


Life of a Forgery

by sam_bam16



Series: Pack of Puppies [1]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Backstory, Canon Compliant, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-05-15 17:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 81,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam_bam16/pseuds/sam_bam16
Summary: Kavinsky's favorite forgery. The guy with ears like wingnuts or the one with one shoulder higher than the other. That guy who almost threw up on Gansey's shoes. You knowofhim but you don't actuallyknowhim.Prokopenko isn't just Prokopenko; he's Aleksandr. And Aleksandr never liked his name so he was always Sasha - a boy who lived in New York with his grandmother. So what brought him to Henrietta? No one just ends up there without life putting them. And Sasha had a life before he was put there and far before he became an object of Kavinsky's mind.So who was he? Well, read and have a look.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Hi and welcome! This is my first story that literally has nothing to do with Kavinsky so let's see how this goes
> 
> This story is a once a week kinda guy. Every Wednesday, there'll be a new chpt. It's also part of a new series, Pack of Puppies, which is fours stories in total about the members of the Dream Pack aka Kavinsky's pack of dogs. Being that they aren't in Henrietta yet, they're still puppies ;) It's a different series but all of my works/series are within the same sort of universe and all comply with each other and canon.  
> These stories won't be as extensive as K's (if you've read it, you know it's a monster and if you've just seen it around, you know it's a monster). Each story will cover only a few years before Henrietta up until they meet Joseph.
> 
> As always, suggestions are always open and as with K's stories, so are Snapshots if there's something you want to see. If you're new around here, Snapshots are pretty much just prompts, scenes, things that you'd like to see from the story or out the story.
> 
> Comments are appreciated because eveyone likes to know how they're doing. Praise, critiscism, 'i hate this person', 'i love this person', whatever. Go for it and tell me please.
> 
> Enjoy! Chapters are longer than this; this is just a taste ^.^
> 
> _"Accents you like a push-up bra does for boobs.”_

He always hated this time of year. And even though it came every single year since he had started school, Sasha was never ready for it. Never found a way to prepare himself to avoid feeling the pain, frustration, and disappointment that occurred every single time.

Every single fucking time.

“What are we doing to it this year?” his grandmother asked as he walked into their house. She could tell just from his face what day of the year had arrived. It was a biannual thing and every time, they tried to do something different to the horribly offensive representation of what he hated.

Sighing as he dropped down into the handmade Italian chair that he always got yelled at about when he put his feet up, Sasha replied “I don’t have it in me anymore, baba. I give up.” Pulling out the paper from his bag where he had dropped it beside his feet, he stared at it as those stupid frustrated tears built up in his eyes. Why couldn’t he just get over it already? Move on?

He was pathetic.

Playing with the corner of the pink page, Sasha blinked through his blurry eyes as he read over the paper for the millionth time. The words never really changed through the years.

_Muffins with Mom!_

_Preorder your tickets now_

Every year, his grandmother would offer to go in his mom’s place and every year, Sasha would refuse. Baba filled the motherly role, always had, but…it just wasn’t the same.

And never would be.

His grandmother was Sasha’s everything; he loved her more than anyone. Hell, she was the _only_ one that he loved.

But she wasn’t his mother.

No, his mother was a stupid bitch. A stupid fucking bitch who thought that he was a complete waste of her _expensive_ time. When you were a big-time ballerina – one of the world’s most sought after – you couldn’t have a child holding you back.

Wiping his eyes as he sniffled, Sasha mumbled “I hate her.”

“And I, but my beautiful Sasha, I would not have you without her.”

Well, no, but still. “Still hate her. And him.”

Because, really, he was no better.

Donuts with Dad had already passed. Sasha and his grandmother had settled on simply burning the paper at the stove. Then he scooped up the ashes, took them outside to their garden, and set them on the dirt.

And then he peed on them.

Yeah, he totally peed on them. What better way to make sure they couldn’t reignite? Couldn’t come back to life and bring back all of the pain?

The Muffins with Mom always suffered worse than the dad one, however. Sasha hated his mother a thousand more times than he could ever hate his dad. She had easily given him up like he was nothing and never cared again. At least when it came to his father, the man hadn’t even known about Sasha. Maybe if he had from the beginning, things would have been different. Better.

Nice.

But Viktor hadn’t known because Aleksandra had never told him that they had made a baby. And then Sasha had come into the world.

Only to be handed off to his grandmother less than a month later.

Who was he kidding though? He should be thankful that he had even gotten that much time with Aleksandra, even if he didn’t remember it. Plus, she could have easily aborted him, gotten rid of him in a much more permanent way than just passing him to her mother.

Viktor, on the other hand, hadn’t known about Sasha until last year.

Literally.

Last fucking year.

It wasn’t even because of an effort from Viktor – but then, how could it be? The man had never known a thing. No, the notice had come from Sasha, whom from the age of seven, had been on a mission to at least speak to the man who had fathered him. Last year, Sasha had been able to get a name.

Viktor Borysov. Big time investment banker in Kiev, Ukraine. Huge family that included – what seemed to be from pictures – a loving wife and kids.

Six fucking kids.

Obviously that number did not include Sasha. Why would it? Why would he be a part of that happy family?

“How about,” baba began from her spot on the matching couch to the chair he sat in, “we go and enjoy fresh muffins from Alisa’s bakery? I think we’d both like that.”

Crumpling the stupid pink demon and tossing it on the floor while knowing the only reason he wasn’t getting yelled at for littering was because of the day, Sasha scrubbed his face harshly. Maybe if he rubbed hard enough, he could make the pain go away. Or just ease it. Just enough so that he could breathe without it hurting.

He didn’t want muffins. It wasn’t about muffins. “No thanks,” he whispered in reply, “I’m…I’m just gonna go do my homework.” He hated ‘just doing his homework’ but fuck it.

“Aye, but Sasha, I want muffins.”

Giggling because his grandmother was using her silly voice that she knew got him every time, he snorted “Then go get your muffins.”

“Only if you will join me. Don’t disappoint me now.”

If there was one person that he never wanted to disappoint, it was her. Scrubbing his face one last time, Sasha glanced up to the amazing woman sitting across from him. There was a devious smile on her face and she winked making sure for a fact that he knew the he was being played. “There better be chocolate chip. She didn’t have last time.”

Cackling in that way that only old ladies could, she got to her feet and walked over to him. He had been expecting a hug or something sympathetic given his feelings and the circumstances. That was what a normal person would have done.

He always forgot that his grandmother was not a normal person.

Grimacing when she slapped the back of his head, Sasha muttered “We’re not getting muffins anymore.”

“Don’t whine,” she called as she walked off towards her room. Their brownstone was huge but they really only used the first floor. What was the point of using the other three floors when they were just two people? “Let’s go. I have a muffin craving that needs to be satisfied.”

With a sigh, he stood and grabbed the crumbled paper before dunking it in the kitchen trash. “Burn in hell, Aleksandra. Burn in hell, bitch.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy ^.^
> 
> _“You look fucking fabulous. Took it all like a champ with a smile."_

“Yo, you think I got a shot with Monique? I even got a rose to give to her. That’s nice, right? Girls like flowers. They like flowers?”

Stealing the ball from Nico who was apparently lost in fantasy land, Sasha dribbled close enough to the hoop before he made a shot. Such a lovely swish right there. “You’re asking if girls like flowers?” he asked after retrieving the ball, turning to look at his friend. “Seriously?”

“I don’t know what girls like, man,” Nico muttered sourly as he pushed his hair out of his eyes. He actually hated hair that wasn’t his usual ‘two on the sides, four on top, please’ at the barber’s but Nico was currently in a ‘rebel’ phase of anything his parents told him to do, so he did the opposite.

It still didn’t make any sense to Sasha. If you hated your hair long anyways, you were the one losing out and suffering.

“I know,” Sasha replied before trying a shot from half court. It was the one thing he still had yet to master. Sometimes he made it but he was aiming for all the time. Or at least like eighty percent of the time. Hell, he’d settle for seventy-five. “That’s why I’m yet to understand why you’re trying to get Monique. I don’t think she’d appreciate you playing with her.”

“Fail,” Nico laughed as the ball completely missed the hoop. Yeah, definitely a fail. “And you know why.”

Sighing as he went and grabbed the ball, Sasha called out behind himself “Not like you can do better.” Trotting over while spinning the ball on a finger and making a triumphant face at his best friend, Sasha added “Dude, it’s literally just 8th grade dance. Not very important sounding to me.”

Preteens, man. They were thirteen but same difference. That was still a preteen in his mind.

Okay, so Sasha was a preteen but still. Weren’t you allowed to judge a group if you were a part of them?

Groaning as he rubbed his face before letting out an even louder groan, Nico muttered “It’s important. Again, you know that.”

Spinning the ball in his hands as they walked off the court and back onto the sidewalk, Sasha said “Your parents are weird. It’s confounding how they worry about this stupid stuff more than us.”

“Oh, my, confounding,” Nico mocked except he used some weird posh voice that was definitely not Sasha’s. “Keep your smart words to yourself, please. I like being average. Be average with me. And being that it took years of fertility treatments and all that horrible stuff to have me, which, again, you know, they are obviously concerned with their child doing everything. Even the stupid stuff like dances.”

Wouldn’t it be nice if he had someone who cared that much? Years of fertility treatments to have him. Not just some quickie mistake. “It’s cute how they think that makes you live life to the fullest.” He laughed when Nico shoved him, almost into an older man who scowled at them as they passed. “Okay so go to the dance. Why do you have to have a date?”

Looking skyward like he was making a prayer for Sasha’s stupidity or his own patience, Nico snorted “Dude. Dude. Dude.”

“I advise you not to say dude again.”

“Sasha.” His friend stopped in front of him, grasping Sasha’s shoulders tight like facing him would make the explanation any better. “Sasha, I can’t go alone. I’ll not only look like a loner idiot but my parents will want to know why I didn’t ask a girl. Especially when we all know that freaking Leslie would love to go with me.”

Leslie was sweet. Leslie was annoying. Leslie was also Nico’s downstairs neighbor. Also? Also. Leslie? Leslie was clingy as hell. And went to the same church as both Nico and Sasha. And while Sasha was sure that she was pretty to someone out there, neither he nor Nico saw the appeal of her orange curls or lack of eyebrows. Not that any girl appealed to Nico anyways.

“So you think going for Monique is a genius idea?” Not that there was anything wrong with Monique; she was gorgeous. But she’d kick Nico’s ass if she knew that she was being used as a gay cover. “I’m telling you, just go stag or not at all.”

With a sigh of defeat, Nico hung his head as they walked on towards Sasha’s house. Nico always laughed at how he had managed to snag himself a rich one only for the guy not to play for his team. “Yeah, maybe…it’s just…my parents would be super disappointed. I don’t like disappointing in anything but my grades and hair, man.”

Sasha was a disappointment for just existing but he said nothing. It wasn’t like Nico didn’t know all that already anyways. He was the only one Sasha trusted with the whole story. All his other friends just assumed Sasha was living with his grandma because his parents were busy working or dead.

Pretty opposite spectrums but Sasha didn’t care enough to correct them.

“Please cut your hair. I can’t stand it.”

“Dude, I can’t either! Omigod, I hate brushing it!”

Slapping his face as he shook his head, Sasha grabbed Nico’s arm, dragging him away so they could make a detour before getting to his place. “We’re getting that mess shaved off. I’ll pay.”

 

 

“Oh my,” baba laughed as he and Nico walked in. She was sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine, and drinking what was probably tea. Give her apple cinnamon and she was a happy woman. Give her earl grey and you were as good as dead. “I was wondering when that horrid monster growing on your head would be killed.”

Nico blushed as he rubbed his freshly cut hair. Two on the sides with a four on top, of course. “I was trying to be a rebel, baba.”

Putting the basketball on the floor as he sat down to untie his sneakers because ‘no shoes in the house,’ Sasha snorted “Dude, you’re trying to force yourself a date to go to a dance that you don’t even want to go to. Rebel my ass.” A laugh escaped him when Nico tried to slap his head but instead tripped and ended up on the floor beside him. “I thought my fail was bad but damn, you worse.”

“Why are you not going to this dance, Sasha?” baba called from her spot. “Invite a pretty girl and go.”

“Yeah, Sasha,” Nico said while poking him in the arm, that stupid annoying face he wore for ‘making points’ apparent as he ‘tried to make a point.’ “Invite a pretty girl.”

Slapping the hand away and getting to his feet after grabbing his ball because his grandmother was a stickler about messes, Sasha couldn’t help the snort that escaped him. No pretty girl would want him anyways. He wasn’t Nico with bright baby blues that contrasted sharply with his black hair. He was Sasha with the boring light brown hair that no matter how he tried to style it, it always looked like a short pile of mess. And while his hazel eyes might win him some points, his funky ass posture wouldn’t. Sasha had studied pictures of both his parents intently and neither seemed to have his weird ass lanky form with his weird ass sloping shoulders.

One higher than the other.

How the fuck did that even make sense?

Then there were his ears.

Don’t get him started there.

“Invite a pretty girl, they say. As if it were that easy.” For Nico and his unending charm, yeah probably. But not for Sasha. No way. “No one wants to go to a dance with a funky ass looking Slav.”

Wrapping an arm around Sasha’s shoulder even though he was shorter, Nico laughed “Dude, we live in Little Ukraine. Most people here are Slavs. Hello? I’m a freaking Slav.”

“We live in the East Village,” Sasha replied as they walked down the expansive hall to his room.

“Same thing. New York is a giant salad bowl, my friend.” Plopping down on Sasha’s huge bed once they reached the room, Nico gazed at him with scrunched brows. “Plus, why are you selling yourself so short? You’re a catch.”

“Ha. Don’t lie to make me feel better.”

Leaning back on his hands as he watched Sasha strip off his sweaty shirt and shorts after he tossed the ball in his closet, Nico said “Sasha, my dear dear friend. My dear dear dear friend who’s like my brother. If you were not my brother and if I knew that you were even slightly curious about guys, I’d totally make a move on you. Alas, you’re my brother and you don’t like the D.”

“So no moves, huh,” he yawned as he pulled on fresh shorts and a shirt. A shower would have been a better idea but he was too lazy right now. It should be noted that he didn’t believe Nico for a second. And from Nico’s face, his friend could easily tell.

“Dude, I’m serious. I don’t even mind your ears. But alas-”

“Okay, okay. I’m moderately attractive to idiots. Thanks.”

Rolling his eyes, Nico muttered under his breath “Now you’re just fishing for compliments.”

Compliments never hurt no one. Who didn’t like compliments? “Can I ask you something?”

“Stupid question,” Nico said as he dropped backwards so that he was lying down and staring up at the high ceiling. 1800’s Victorian style brownstone. Literally built in the 1800’s. They liked high ceilings apparently. “You can always ask anything, you know that.”

Lying down beside his best friend and staring up at the ceiling with him, Sasha thought about his question. Yeah, he actually did know that he could ask anything. And he had done it a billion times before. But anything having to do with Nico coming out to his parents always ended with his friend frustrated and snapping that Sasha just wouldn’t get it.

But then…whenever Nico asked why Sasha gave such a fuck about his trash parents, Sasha did the same so…even ground.

“If your parents tried forever to have you, if they seriously want you to be happy and live life to the fullest and whatever…why is it so hard to come out? Tell them that you’d prefer taking Ismael rather than Monique?” Again, nothing wrong with Monique. If Sasha were actually good-looking and had the guts, he’d definitely ask her out.

And he was sure that Ismael was something to look at too. If Sasha had a thing for guys, he was positive that he could appreciate Ismael and his muscles. Well, as much as muscles as a fourteen year old football player had. Nico liked muscle guys. He also had a thing for Latinos. Combined?

Was Nico’s wet dream fantasy in the form of Ismael.

“One, I’m like ninety percent sure that Ismael doesn’t swing. Two…” sighing and setting his hands on his stomach, Nico murmured “Just think about. They’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for a child, finally had one, a boy at that, and he’s gay as hell. Or wishes he got to be as gay as hell as he wanted. I’m still hung up over those jeans, Sasha.”

Dear God, not the jeans again. They had been bored and decided to hit some stores in their boredom. Sasha had been browsing the sneakers because he was obsessed just a bit when Nico had come over to him, literally bouncing over in excitement.

_“Dude, buy me these.”_

_“Yeah, sure, whatever,” he murmured as he tried to find his size in the Adidas he wanted. Why did he have to have big feet?_

_“They look good, yeah?”_

_Finally turning to see what he was going to pay for, Sasha stared at Nico who was practically glowing. His gaze went immediately to his friend’s legs. It wasn’t like Sasha didn’t know that Nico was slim as fuck with toothpick legs but Jesus. Those pants made sure that the world knew. He didn’t even know that pants came that tight. Were those even jeans? Were they even guy pants? “Nico, what the hell are those.”_

_Softly rubbing the sides of his thighs like the pants were holy, Nico grinned “The best freaking pair of pants ever. Sasha, they make it look like I actually have an ass. Is that magical or what?”_

_“I mean, I guess,” he laughed while scratching his head. It was really hard to look away from the odd pants. Guys’ jeans came that slim? That skinny?_

_Nico gave him a wounded look. “Sasha.”_

_“Okay, yes, that’s magical.” No lie, Nico dreamed of having an ass. His dreams have ranged from him wanting to work out to extreme levels to tone only his butt all the way to injections._

_Yeah, injections. His friend wanted a bubble butt that bad. Sasha was partially worried that one day when they got older, Nico would go to some shady doctor in the Bronx to give him fake injections. Sasha found the whole ‘I need a butt’ thing ridiculous but if it came down to his friend getting cement injected into his ass or Sasha footing the bill at a reputable licensed doctor?_

_He’d foot the goddamn bill._

_Smiling huge with his one dimple gouging a hole in his left cheek, Nico bounced where he stood. Leaning in, he whispered “And they make my package look freaking awesome. Even awesomer than usual.” Stepping back a step, he posed. “Am I right or am I right?”_

_Covering his face as he choked on his laughter, Sasha spared a quick glance through his fingers just to amuse his friend. If Nico was right or not, Sasha had no clue because he didn’t spend his time focused on how certain pants made his friend’s crotch look but he nodded anyways. “Top level awesomeness. Accents you like a push-up bra does for boobs.”_

_“I know!”_

_Turning back to his search for his size of shoe, Sasha said “Well, go take them off so we can buy while I find my size. I’m happy you’ve found your soulmate in a pair of pants.”_

_Laughing manically as he bounced away, Nico called out “I knew that you’re my best friend for a reason.”_

But they hadn’t bought the jeans despite how much Nico had loved them. His friend had come back empty handed with a frown on his face and sat to watch Sasha dig through the boxes on the shelf.

“I told you to get them,” Sasha replied. “Repeatedly that day and every day that you bring them up.”

With a small sigh, Nico mumbled “They made me look gay.”

He turned his head to stare at his friend who was still staring at the ceiling. “Nic, you’re gay.”

“I know that,” he snorted with just a touch of amusement in his voice. “I’m very very gay. But no one knows that except me and you and your baba. I can’t advertise. Those jeans were like a freaking beacon screaming ‘Look at me! I’m gay!’”

“You do know that straight guys wear skinny jeans too, right? Not that I’m saying to hide yourself.”

Smiling and turning to look at Sasha, Nico said “Straight guys don’t wear skinnys that skinny, dude. I’m the resident gay guy here, I think I know what I’m talking about.”

“Fine, so they advertise. Who cares?”

Biting his lip, Nico replied “Probs my parents.”

“I still disagree.”

Looking back up at the ceiling, Nico sighed before sitting up, rubbing a hand on his freshly cut hair. It was like he was amazed that he had his head back. “You think? I know I joke about being a rebel and all but I’m so not rebel material.”

“Trust me, I know.” He yelped when Nico slammed him in the stomach, “Ow! Do you mind?”

“Nope!” his friend smirked as he bounced from the bed to his feet. “Now, I’m going to steal clothes and shower because I’m itchy as hell from both sweat and a haircut where a monster was murdered. I hope you have clean underwear. Although,” Nico added as he walked to Sasha’s dresser across his huge room, “I could just free ball it. I mean, your stuff is big on me anyways.”

Rubbing his eyes and yawning from his sore and tired body, Sasha shrugged to the ceiling. “Whatever you want. And yes, I have clean underwear, thank you. I even put my own laundry in the washer.”

Nico pulled out a pair of boxer-briefs and shorts. “Not the dryer, huh? You’re a half job kinda guy. Tsk, tsk.” Grabbing a shirt from the closet, he took a second to glance at his choices before switching the blue underwear for a black one. “Matches better with the white shorts,” he explained when he caught Sasha staring with an eyebrow raised. “Personally, I prefer briefs but I’m not picky in times of need.”

Shaking his head as he scooted farther up the bed, Sasha murmured before closing his eyes “Don’t drown.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Comments, kudos, lemme know what you're thinking!  
> Enjoy
> 
> _“Hey, man, you are the God of grudges. Teach me your art.”_

“I’m telling you, this is a terrible idea, Nic.”

Very terrible.

Because seriously, Monique would really kick Nico’s ass if she knew that he wasn’t really interested in her.

“Have you got a better one,” Nico whispered as they peered out the classroom door. Monique was at her locker, talking to another girl. She’d must have taken out her braids over the weekend but Sasha still loved the way she looked.

And now he was going to be a fool by association because of Nico’s stupid idea.

“Yes,” Sasha snorted, “One that I’ve said a gazillion times before.”

Turning to glare at him, Nico said in a furious whisper “I’m not coming out. Not yet.” He turned his attention back to Monique who was now alone, grabbing some things from her locker before slamming it shut. “I can do this. What are the chances that she’ll kick my ass?”

Ninety percent. “Do you really wanna know?”

“No. Don’t tell me.” Taking a deep breath, Nico tugged his shirt down even though it was fine and started to walk over to Monique before he backtracked and grabbed Sasha’s hand, dragging him with him.

“Hey, hey, hey.”

“Shh, brothers support each other.”

_Asshole._ Nico was well aware of Sasha’s crush on Monique.

God, this was probably going to be embarrassing.

Monique turned around right when they reached her. Talk about perfect timing. “Oh, hey Nicolas. Aleksandr.”

Sasha hated his real name. Like legitimately. But it was his legal name and what everyone besides Nico and his grandmother called him. His mother was so fucking in love with herself that she had named him after her. If she didn’t even want him, then what the fuck?

“Uh, hi,” Nico tried to laugh. Jesus, where did this guy’s charm die? He was usually so much better than this. “Um, so, I was wondering-”

“Hey, Monique.”

Shit. Now Nico was definitely not going to be able to get out his words with Ismael looming there.

“Ismael,” she smiled in a way that she hadn’t smiled for Sasha and Nico. Well, at least now they realistically knew their chances. Slim to fucking zero. “What’s up?”

Yeah, Sasha _or_ Nico definitely didn’t have a chance compared to God bod Ismael over here.

“I was hoping to ask you to the dance actually. Pick you up and we can walk over together at five.”

Wow, wasn’t he just an assuming ass. This guy may be a sorta reincarnation of Nico’s wet dreams but what a jerk. His buddy deserved way better. Muscles or not.

Nico must have thought the same or was pissed that his ultimate gay cover plan was about to fall through because he said with _full on_ sass “Excuse me, we were talking here before you rudely interrupted.”

Flicking a glance towards Nico, Ismael looked incredibly unimpressed as he gave him a once over. Yeah, Nic wasn’t much to be intimidated by with his slim build and sleight height. Neither was Sasha for that matter even though he was taller than his friend. “Who the fuck are you?” Looking to Sasha, he added “And what the fuck is wrong with your ears?”

He _would not_ touch his ears. Sasha may be self-conscious about them but this ass was not going to take satisfaction from it. “The fuck is wrong with your face?”

All the jackass did was roll his eyes.

“Oh,” Monique nodded like she suddenly remembered that they existed, focusing those lovely practically black eyes back on them. Jesus, she was gorgeous. Sasha could get lost in those eyes for days. “That’s right. What were you saying, Nicolas?”

“What I was going to say with manners and without assumptions, is that if you’d like to go to the dance with me? Because I ask because I’m a fucking gentleman.” Apparently, someone being rude to him made his best friend confident. Or just pissed. Also curse. Nico never cursed. Ever.

But that confidence unfortunately pissed off certain people.

Mainly Ismael.

Standing to his full height when he had been leaning only seconds ago, Ismael sauntered closer to Nico and backed him up against the lockers. Sasha’s grandmother always told him not to get into fights but if this dipshit tried messing with Nico, he was so jumping in. Brothers always had each other’s backs.

“You got a problem with me, you fucking runt?”

_No, actually, he liked you up until like ten seconds ago._ Sasha may be lanky, but he could straighten his shit posture when he needed to. Standing almost nose to nose with Ismael, Sasha hissed “You wanna back up?”

Nico decided that this was a great time to speak. But then, Nico always loved speaking so how was this situation any different? “Yeah, I got a problem. You’re fucking _rude._ ”

Ismael only had so much patience it seemed as he slammed a fist into Nico’s face.

It happened so fast that Sasha didn’t even have a chance to stop it. Honestly, he didn’t expect it to happen. Sure, they were acting all cocky, all three of them, but there was seriously no need to start hitting. What the fuck?

Shoving Ismael despite the fact that he now knew the power that came from that bastard, Sasha stood in front of his friend who was fighting back tears and clutching his nose. The back of his head had to hurt too being that it had slammed into the lockers with a way too loud bang. “Shit. Nic, you okay?” Obviously that was a stupid question because Nico’s nose was bleeding profusely through his fingers but it was all Sasha had been able to come up with in his shock. “Nico?”

“…sue…”

At first, Sasha totally thought that Nico was saying they should sue. Then he realized it was actually ‘tissue.’ “Yeah, yeah,” he said quickly, pulling out a few from his backpack. Ismael and Monique were literally just standing there staring at them.

Monique totally just went down a couple spots on his crush totem pole.

“Thanss,” Nico mumbled out, his tears pooling down his face as he jammed some tissue up his nose and then held one around it.

“Look, the bitch is crying. Pathetic.”

There was only so much that Sasha could let someone get away with. He wasn’t a fighter, had no idea even how to fight, but there was one spot that all guys hated getting hit at.

So Sasha kneed the jackass in the groin.

Ismael went down like a ton with a nice hearty groan.

“Oh wow, look, the bitch is crying,” Sasha mocked as Ismael clutched himself, “Pathetic.”

Grabbing Nico’s shoulder, he dragged his friend with him to get him cleaned up in the bathroom. Repercussions would definitely come; there was no doubt there.

But he had a friend to fix up first.

“You totally just kneed Ismael,” Nico said in a nasally form of his voice as they walked in. When Sasha was sure that the restroom was empty, he turned the lock on the door so they could have some privacy.

Sasha just kneed Ismael.

“Dude, I’m fucked.”

Flipping on the sink after disposing his tissues in the trash, Nico said “Yeah, probs, but man, that was cool as heck. Omigod, we were on fire. Oh, my nose hurts.”

Leaning back on the wall and closing his eyes, Sasha muttered “He’s so not worth your wet dreams, Nic.”

“I know! That jackass! He always seemed so nice.” Washing his face carefully after doing his best to clean his nose, Nico added “Dammit, now I need a new subject for my fantasies. You too. I don’t like Monique anymore.”

She was still hot though. Nico loved Latinos; Sasha had a thing for black girls. There was just something about their beautiful skin and their hair and…Jesus. Black girls. Yeah, so his type. “I mean, fantasies don’t have to be about personalities, just sexy stuff.”

“Dear Sasha, I like my fantasies to have a little bit of realism in that I have a man who’d treat me right. I don’t think Ismael would be that type of man. Or at least, he hasn’t presented himself that way as of today. And Monique seems a little…i.d.k. but she totally just stood there like we didn’t matter. That’s not hot.”

No, no it wasn’t. “Fair point. So what about the dance now? You gonna ask Leslie?”

Nico looked horrified causing Sasha to laugh. It was even funnier because of the split on his nose and the trails of blood still coming out of his nostrils in little drips. Luckily, his eyes looked pretty okay. Sasha had been worried they’d blacken. “Don’t be crazy. Leslie? Are you out of your mind? You ask her.”

This was the one time that Sasha was happy that he wasn’t that attractive. “It’s not me she makes puppy eyes at.”

“Shuddup,” Nico laughed gleefully as he punched Sasha in the arm. Blowing his nose one last time, he grabbed his bag off the floor and made himself a bit more presentable.

“Why you bothering? We’re probably about to get our asses kicked.”

“I wanna look sexy as…”

“Fuck,” Sasha said, filling in the blank for his friend like he always did when Nico needed a foul word.

“For when I get my ass kicked. I gotta look good _all. The. Time._ ”

“Ah,” he nodded. Just to be an ass, he added helpfully “I’ve seen you with throw up down your shirt.”

Sticking out his tongue with a wink, Nico said before unlocking the door “Don’t make me punch you again.”

Their first mistake had been bothering with Monique and getting in Ismael’s face.

Their second?

Opening the bathroom door.

 

 

“I got in a couple punches, you know,” Sasha grumbled as his grandmother shoved him into the house.

She was pissed.

“Oh? And that is supposed to make me feel better, Sasha?” she all but snapped, turning to face him after tossing her purse on the couch. “What have I said about fighting?”

“Don’t do it,” he mumbled as he stared down at the floor. Facing her hardened gaze was one of the more difficult things in life. Thinking about his parents was the most.

Crossing her arms, baba asked “And what did you do today?”

“I got in a fight but-”

“No buts.”

Making sure that he didn’t use that specific word, Sasha tried again. “ _However_ ,” he said, earning a very very small smile from his grandmother for word use, “It wasn’t our fault. We were just trying to talk to someone and then Ismael got all up in our faces. And we didn’t even do nothing after he punched Nic the first time. We literally hid in the bathroom.”

Okay, so Sasha may have actually kneed the bastard and they hadn’t been hiding, simply cleaning up but all the same. Baba didn’t need the details.

“No one told them to be waiting outside the bathroom to jump us.” While he was quite proud of his couple of punches because he’d never been in a fight before in his life, they were pretty pathetic compared to the many they got in on him.

But it was nothing compared to what they did to Nico.

Maybe it was because he had been trying to ask out Monique or maybe it was because he had tried standing up to Ismael. Either way, Ismael made it his personal mission to make Nico a messy pulp of black and blue.

When people had finally broken up the massacre – it definitely wasn’t a fight – Nico was breathing heavily, both eyes black, nose flattened, and Sasha was sure that under his shirt was a giant mess of bruises. He hadn’t had the chance to help his friend; the assholes had held him back while another held Nico’s slim body, allowing Ismael to just lay into him.

What was ridiculous was that everyone had been let off with a bullshit _warning._ Had they not seen what was done to Nico? What the fucking hell? Sasha didn’t even care about himself. What were a black eye and a couple of bruises? Nothing compared to Nic.

Both Sasha and his grandmother had gone with Nico and his folks to the hospital. No way was he letting his friend out of sight until he was sure that he’d be alright. It was nothing too serious, just some patchwork that needed to be done, but Sasha was sure as fuck bitter.

Nico, on the other hand, was all smiles.

Typical.

_“Stop,” Sasha muttered._

_“What?” Nico smiled. Well, smiled as best as he could on account of all the bruising, broken nose, black eye..._

_“Stop freaking smiling. You just got the bejezus beaten out of you, man.”_

_“Sasha, if my bejezus had been beaten out, I wouldn’t still be this pretty. Side note, I looked good the whole time, right? I tried to make sure they didn’t get my good side.”_

_Okay, no offense and all, not to fall into gay stereotyping and whatever but Jesus… How could Nico’s parents not tell? Like seriously. “You looked fucking fabulous. Took it all like a champ with a smile. Although, suggestion?”_

_“Please.”_

_“Wink next time right before they blacken your eyes. Gives it a bit of a flare, you know?”_

_“Oh,” Nico nodded, his eyes bright with laughter, “You’re so right! Damn, okay, next time then.” Getting cozy in his chair as they waited for his parents to fill his prescription, he decided “We’ll piss off Ismael again and then I’ll make sure I go down even sexier.”_

_“Don’t forget the wink,” Sasha laughed as he shook his head at Nico’s foolery._

Sighing while shaking her head, baba replied “Lesson of the day?”

“Don’t talk to Monique,” Sasha couldn’t help but snort, finally slipping off his shoes. He walked towards his room and called out behind himself “And that Ismael is not as nice as he seems. Or at least, he’s not nice to me and Nico.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> _“Maybe you’re just fragile in your masculinity."_

_Dear Sasha,_

_Thank you for writing me…_

“Dare,” Nico said with a mischievous smile on his face. The bruises were healing through the ugly color change, the swelling had gone down, and his nose didn’t look as bad as it had a few days ago.

Sasha smiled wide. He’d been waiting for this since they started their game. Nico had kept picking truth but finally Sasha had his chance. “Ask Leslie to the dance.”

Clutching his heart and dropping backwards on Sasha’s floor, Nico wailed. Literally wailed and then covered his face and groaned. Then he whined. Yeah, his friend was one dramatic fucker. “Sasha, why.”

“Because you’re a gentleman and Leslie would love to go with you.”

A long whine came from his friend. “Sasha.”

“C’mon, she’s not that bad.” Well, she kind of was but Sasha never said he was a nice person. He sure wasn’t above making his friend suffer so he could laugh a bit. “Sometimes.”

Another whine.

“Don’t be a wuss.”

_I have to admit, this is coming as quite a surprise to me. But I imagine you could guess that. I actually thought this to be a joke until I called up your mother…_

“Uh,” Nico groaned as he sat back up, shooting Sasha a death glare. “I’ll take the penalty on that one.”

They liked to change up their penalties when they played. For today’s game, they had settled on having to eat a whole garlic head raw. Sasha had absolutely no intentions of falling into a dare where he’d have to take the penalty. Raw garlic? And a whole head?

Yeah, no.

“You sure?”

With a sad sad sigh, Nico nodded before dropping his head into his hands. “I hate you.”

“Lies. You’re incapable of hate.”

“I am a fool,” he laughed in his hands. Looking up at Sasha, Nico said “Teach me to hate.”

“You’re an ass,” Sasha muttered.

_She claimed it true. That of course brought on more shock. I imagine that you’re a smart young man and would understand what feelings I may be going through as of now. And also the chance of my skepticism…_

“Hey, man, you are the God of grudges. Teach me your art.”

Drawing patterns in his carpet, Sasha murmured “He’s sending a lawyer over.”

One of Nico’s perfect eyebrows rose. “Why? Couldn’t he have, oh I don’t know…called you?”

Viktor most definitely wasn’t going to call or in any way get involved with Sasha unless he knew for certain that he was his child. He probably just thought that Sasha was some kid hoping to get inheritance or something.

But he wasn’t. So far from it. All he wanted was a parent. Someone to love him like parents were supposed to. Maybe something like the way Nico’s parents loved their miracle baby.

Was that so much to ask?

Apparently, yes, yes, it was.

“The _lawyer_ ,” Sasha explained in disgust, “is bringing some doctor or something so they can do a paternity test. A _fucking paternity test._ Bullshit, Nic, bullshit.”

But Nico was making the agreeable bullshit face. Biting his lip, his friend replied “I know that you won’t like hearing this but…Sasha…I mean, he’s not wrong in wanting one.” Leaning back on his outstretched arms, his friend looked as though he was considering his words carefully before he spoke. “Like, I know that it isn’t about the money for you. That you just want to know your dad but look at it his way. He got some random letter from this kid in America, in an entire other country, saying that he’s your child. Do you get it?”

Staring down at the plush blue rug his grandmother had chosen for his room because ‘it matches lovely’, Sasha considered Nico’s words. He had actually thought about all of that and logically, Sasha did get it. But no one ever said that logic always won out over feelings.

“I just want a dad,” he whispered to the only person he’d ever spoken the entirety of his inner turmoil to, “That’s all. I just want to know what it feels like.” He fell into Nico’s embrace as his friend wrapped him in his arms, setting his head on Sasha’s shoulder. “It looks pretty nice, you know? A dad.”

“Does baba know that you wrote him? I hope she knows. Dude, she’ll be so mad if you didn’t tell her.”

Wiping his eyes that were filling with tears with the back of his hand, Sasha sighed as he set his head on Nico’s. “She knows. She helped me write it too to make sure it sounded good.” Nico hummed. Sasha figured that it meant his friend was letting him know that he was listening so he continued. “You know what really got me in his letter though? The fact that he just so easily-”

“Called her up?” Nico finished because his friend would know. “The stupid lady who won’t even take your calls but easy peasy takes his?”

“Yeah, that.”

Breaking their embrace, Nico leaned back on his hands once more as he stretched out his legs. “Do you not want to do the paternity test? I mean, we all know that he’s your father but I really see no harm in it, you know? He wants confirmation, okay, give it to him. And I don’t want you to set your hopes or anything but maybe he’ll want to try being in your life after knowing for sure that you’re his. It couldn’t hurt, Sasha.”

No, no it couldn’t…it was kind of insulting though. Sasha wasn’t just going to randomly write to some guy and claim kinship. But, he figured, some people actually did do that, especially to rich people so… “Yeah, I guess not.”

_The thought of having another son is an exciting prospect, if you must know. I truly hope that this letter isn’t a farce and that perhaps, we can build something with one another._

_Sincerely,_

_Viktor Borysov_

Even if they were to build some kind of relationship, Sasha had trouble imagining himself as a Borysov. That wasn’t him and even though Viktor was his father, never really would be. It didn’t sound right. Sasha Borysov…

No, it wouldn’t do at all.

His mother’s surname was actually Stasivk, not Prokopenko. But Sasha had never wanted to be identified with her and well, neither did his mother with him so he had been given his grandmother’s maiden name. Baba had even switched from her marriage name back to her maiden so that she and Sasha could be the same.

So changing to Borysov just wouldn’t be right.

“What do you think his wife said? If he even told her,” Sasha murmured as he laid on the floor beside his friend who joined him a second later. He wasn’t going to lie, Sasha didn’t actually like the blue carpet that much even though it matched but it was comfy so at least there was that.

“There’s no way he told her. And he won’t unless he knows for sure that you’re his. Technically, you’re not a bastard child because they weren’t married at the time but you’ll be the oldest. Bitch will probably think that you want to take her kids’ inheritance or whatever.”

Sasha was still gaping at his friend in shock even after he finished his little tirade. “You did not just say ‘bitch.’”

Turning to face Sasha, Nico laughed with his blue eyes sparkling. “Dude, it was totally called for because we both know that it’s true. Just you wait and see, Sasha. Wait and freaking see.”

 

* * *

 

Stopping at one of the many tiny corner stores dotting the streets on his way home, Nico took out the list his parents had given him of the things they wanted him to grab before he made it home. It was only a couple things but to Nico who just remembered that he had a math assignment he had to finish, it felt like a billion.

Reaching out to grab a bag of sliced bread as he focused on his list to read the next item, Nico jumped when his hand brushed someone else’s. “Sorry,” he said quickly to whoever it was that he was battling for that bag of bread.

Maybe it was petty – Nico didn’t typically do petty because that was more Sasha’s style – but he wanted to take back his apology when he realized who it was.

He also wanted to run.

Ismael smirked at him as he grabbed the bag of white sliced bread they both had been going for. Nico kind of figured that the buff freak would be more of a wheat guy. Wrong, apparently. “Nicolas, wasn’t it?”

Swallowing his nerves down and wishing really badly that Sasha was here with him, Nico nodded quickly, eager to be on his way and away from this guy. He made to grab a different bag of bread but his hand was halted as Ismael grabbed his wrist. “Do you mind?” Nico snapped in annoyance. Ismael couldn’t hurt him here, could he? Nico was still healing from his beating a few days ago and he really couldn’t handle another one.

“Nope,” Ismael laughed, keeping a firm hold on Nico’s wrist. Ismael took a minute to study the mess he had made of Nico’s face before giving him a once over. Nico didn’t like how Ismael looked at him. It was oddly…syrupy. Almost like Ismael was checking him out in that weird awkward way that was supposed to be subtle which definitely couldn’t be right. He was probably just sizing him up. That made way more sense.

“I’m curious,” Ismael started, literally still holding Nico’s arm, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around Monique or even talk to her and then suddenly you ask her to be your date for the dance? Something there don’t make sense, Nicolas.”

Yanking his arm back to no avail, Nico huffed in frustration “Maybe I was an admirer from afar. Not like it matters. I don’t want to go to the dance anymore anyways.” His parents didn’t want him to either; they said that it sure as heck wasn’t worth a beating. Nico tried to pull his arm out of Ismael’s grip again but the jerk still wouldn’t let go, “Let me go.”

Titling his head as he studied Nico, Ismael finally asked “Why don’t you want to go anymore?”

Oh for the… “Not your business.” Successfully pulling his arm away, Nico grabbed a bag of bread without checking the expiration date and rushed off to finish his shopping without a backwards glance.

Upon reaching home, Nico had examined the encounter with Ismael fifty times over and still could make no sense of it. He needed Sasha’s genius brain. Okay, his friend wasn’t a genius but he was still smarter than Nico. Maybe he’d call him after dinner and tell him what had happened. Sasha was going to freak when he told him. It’d be way better to tell him in person…

All these thoughts flew out of his mind the minute he walked into the kitchen and saw his dad sitting at the table, a calendar in his hands. It was a mini one that Nico had begged Sasha to order him from the internet. The cost of shipping had been crazy but Sasha had laughed and said that he didn’t mind. It was up to date but Nico had never put it on his wall, simply hid it under his mattress so he could drool whenever he liked.

Backing out of the kitchen before his dad looked up occurred to him but he lost his chance in seconds as his mother came from behind him, softly cupping his shoulders. Nico stifled his yelp of surprise with a weak “Hi.”

His dad looked up at them. “Come in, Nicolas. Why’re you standing there?”

 _Oh, you know, because you’re holding my hot firefighters calendar._ Smiling nervously, Nico and the groceries made their way in with his mother trailing behind him. “Hi.”

“How was your day?” his mom asked as she took the bags from his hands, “Ms. Prokopenko and Aleksandr are well?”

No matter how many times both he and Sasha asked his mother to call him Sasha, it just didn’t work. His mother didn’t believe in nicknames. A name was a name even if you hated it. “They’re good,” he answered, barely keeping the tremor out of his voice as he watched his dad flip a page in his calendar.

His dad flipped another page. Nico wondered if he had gotten to November yet which was his favorite firefighter – a beautifully buff Hispanic guy.

Gorgeous.

“Why don’t you have a seat,” his dad finally said as he flipped yet another page. “Maybe we should talk.”

Yeah, no, he was fine with no talking. Of course, being as un-rebel as he was, Nico sat his lack of a butt in the chair across from his father. He noticed that he had this tendency to get angry when he was afraid so his mouth couldn’t stop as he asked in an offended voice “You were going through my stuff?”

Looking up from the calendar before he set it down on the table – hello, November – his dad relaxed into his chair and crossed his arms, contemplating Nico. He opened his mouth to answer but Nico’s mom beat him to it as she turned around from the counter to look at them. “I was getting the laundry and was taking the sheet off your mattress.”

Usually Nico made sure that he did that but he hadn’t been home today. Lovely. “I see.”

“So is there something you’d like to tell us?” she pressed as she wrung her smooth hands, her brown eyes filled with concern. His parents were older than most who had kids his age because of how long it had taken to have him but it sure never showed on his mother. You’d think it would with all she had been through trying to have him.

Shrugging as he bit his lip and dared a glance at his dad, Nico tried to steady his panicking heart. Sasha always said that they wouldn’t have a problem with him being gay but…what if he was wrong? Maybe he measured his parents wrong. Nico didn’t want to be disowned and he sure as hell didn’t want to be thrown out. Sasha would take him in a heartbeat but still. “Um…”

Tapping Mr. November, his dad asked “So…November is your favorite?”

Shoot him, he had drawn a red heart next to the name of the month. Mr. November firefighter definitely deserved it. The man was freaking stunning with all that lovely skin and muscles. Blushing so red that his face felt like it was on fire, Nico looked away and mumbled “Um…”

“Nicolas,” his dad said softly, “It’s okay. If you’re scared or worried, you don’t need to be. It’s okay.”

Flicking his eyes up to his dad’s which were the same shade of blue of Nico’s, he whispered “It’s okay?”

Smiling in such a soft way that matched both his voice and his eyes, his dad rested his arms on the table and replied “It’s okay. I’m sorry if we’ve ever given the impression that it might not be.”

“You haven’t,” Nico murmured as he tried to get his bearings. He’d come out – slightly forcibly – to his family and it was okay. It’d be okay. Thank God. “Uh,” he paused to clear his throat and sit up straighter, flicking a glance between his parents, “Sasha has actually been telling me for a while now to tell you guys. I just thought…because…you guys tried so hard and…”

His mom walked over to him and crouched down beside the chair that he was in, taking his hands in hers. “And God gave us a perfect boy. Exactly the way he is.”

Oh man, he was going to cry right now. This was too much emotion for his emotions. “Really?”

“Really,” she promised before bringing his head down for a kiss to his cheek. “Just the way you are, Nicolas.”

Glancing back to his dad, Nico searched his father’s face for that same promise. He found it in the way the man smiled and from the love in his eyes. Taking a chance in baring his totally gay soul, Nico tapped Mr. November and said “Definitely my favorite.”

Laughing as he picked the calendar back up, his dad studied the picture before him. “Honestly, he looks like all the other guys. Shirtless, muscles, and in a firefighter suit but I suppose this isn’t my expertise.”

“No, no,” Nico snorted at his dad’s foolishness, pulling the calendar out of his hands. Pointing to Mr. November, he explained “Mr. November here is, or at least I assume, Hispanic. And his muscles are the right parts of not too much or too little.” He turned the calendar his way to stare at the shirtless God before him. Nico couldn’t help it when he whispered “Gorgeous.”

“Hispanic, huh?” his mom laughed as she stood and went back to putting the groceries away. “My boy has a type it seems. I don’t think we’ve a lot of Hispanics living around here though. I don’t know how good your chances will be.”

Not much, no. Nico paid attention. There was Ismael of course but Nico wasn’t sure that the jerk was his thing anymore. His thoughts went back to their encounter in the store.

Weird or what?


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> So...good so far?  
> Enjoy
> 
> _“Who wants to be named after an egotistical ballerina who only loves herself?”_

Lord, did pants make a difference. A very very big difference. Everyone in school had to think so too because Sasha didn’t see a single person who _hadn’t_ stared at Nico in his new jeans.

They were thee jeans. The ‘gives me an ass’ jeans. Sasha had tracked them down in the store once Nico had told him that he had successfully come out to his parents and had bought them as a ‘happy coming out’ gift.

Nico had loved them.

Paired with a pair of ankle boots that Nico had wanted for months that his parents had bought him and a slim black button up and Nico was ready to face the world. He made Sasha look shabby in his regular jeans, Nike’s, and athletic shirt. “I feel like I should have dressed up today,” he couldn’t help but snort as they walked through the halls to their lockers, ready to dump their books within and go outside to enjoy their lunch hour.

“Aw, Sasha, you’re not feeling inferior to my sexiness, are you?” Nico laughed as he did the lock for his locker and opened it up. “Man, I feel so fine! I love you, man. Tell me how fine I look.”

“Gorgeous,” Sasha answered while accompanying it with an eyeroll. His friend was going to be insufferable for a while. Leaning up beside Nico’s locker, his eyes caught on a particular person making their way over. What the hell was his problem? “So gorgeous that Ismael is on his way over.”

Nico’s eyes went wide as he stared at Sasha and then turned his head to look down the hall the minute that Ismael came up to them. They both stared at the imposing boy in silence, waiting to see what he wanted.

When Ismael realized that they weren’t going to say anything, he looked between both of them before focusing on Nico. “What the hell are you wearing.”

It wasn’t even phrased as a question; it was a demand like Ismael was entitled to an explanation. Sasha couldn’t see Nico’s face because his friend was in front of him but he could easily imagine him rolling his eyes. Nico was sassy when he was annoyed.

Crossing his arms, Nico asked “Why’s that your business? I’ll wear whatever the…”

“Fuck,” Sasha provided.

“I want,” his friend finished. “I don’t see how it’s your concern in any way. Seriously, leave me alone.”

Ismael just looked incredibly amused. So incredibly amused that Sasha actually had the desire to punch him. That was rare because Sasha just wasn’t the type. But instead of hitting, he just settled for an expression of words. “Fuck off.”

Sasha’s annoyance, on the other hand, was not at all amusing to Ismael. In fact, it made the other boy look incredibly pissed. He was beginning to think that Nico was right in assuming that maybe Ismael was mildly obsessed with him. Why, they had yet to figure out. They were working on it. “I wasn’t talking to you. Mind your own fucking business.”

That caused a huge unattractive snort to erupt from Nico. “Dude, why don’t you? Me and Sasha got places to be.” Nico slammed his locker shut, checked to make sure that it was locked, and then added with a whole lot of attitude as he mocked Ismael “Mind your own…”

“Fucking.”

“Business.”

The other boy’s mouth opened to say something but Nico snapped his fingers in front of his face before saying “See yeah,” before he walked off, Sasha following his steps and nearly crashing into him when his friend halted. Spinning around on the heels of his nice ass boots, Nico laughed “Not.”

“Dude,” Sasha laughed as they walked out of the school building, “how the hell do you get so sassy when you’re scared? Teach me.”

Eyes sparkling as they made their way to a bench to eat their lunches, Nico replied “I’ve no idea. I start out wanting to pee in my pants and then I open my mouth and bam! No stopping me now! I’ll give you lessons once you teach me to be mean and petty.”

Plopping on the bench across from Nico, Sasha pulled out his lunch and went for the chips first. Baba would yell at him but, luckily, she wasn’t here. “So the results for the paternity test came in. One got sent to me and then one to Viktor.”

“I imagine that you’re very obviously his kid?” Nico asked before munching on a carrot covered in ranch. It was the only way that his parents could convince him to eat them. If he had celery, it was murdered in peanut butter. “So what now?” he asked after Sasha nodded a ‘yes’ to his question.

“Don’t know,” Sasha shrugged because he really didn’t know. Viktor had both his address and the phone number for the house so it was in the man’s hands now. “I…kinda want him to call? Like, anyone can write a letter but on a phone, I’d actually be speaking to him, you know?”

His friend nodded thoughtfully as he dunked another carrot into his cup of ranch. “I get it. And I think that should be his next step anyways but I can’t sit here and imagine what a rich banker thinks. Not to mention what his blonde Barbie is whispering in his ear.”

“It amazes me how much you dislike her,” he laughed while shaking his head. “You think she’s going to be that much of a problem? Maybe she won’t mind me? I don’t want their money; Aleksandra pays for everything.”

“Baba would kick her butt if she didn’t.”

“Hey guys.”

Sasha and Nico turned their heads to stare at Monique smiling at them with her floral lunch bag in hand. Ismael was standing at her shoulder, looking bored. Sasha didn’t believe for a second that this was Monique’s idea. Why would they want to sit with them? Also…were they a thing now? Sasha had to admit that he was impressed with himself on not even feeling slightly jealous.

“Hi,” Sasha replied with a stiff smile. His crush had died after what had happened and the thought of Monique and Ismael sitting with them for lunch did not sit well with him. “What’s up?”

“We just thought we’d sit with you guys,” Monique answered as she scooted in and sat beside Sasha while Ismael sat beside Nico. His friend looked uncomfortable and then turned towards annoyed when Ismael snagged a carrot, dipping it into the ranch before eating it.

He and Nico shared a ‘wtf??’ glance before Sasha said “Uh, okay, I guess.”

She pulled out her sandwich and opened her juice, “Great! Hey, so, Nicolas, I’m sorry about not going to dance with you but if you’re still looking-”

“I’m not,” Nico cut in quickly. “And don’t worry about it. I don’t want to go anymore anyways.” This time when they shared a glance, it was a ‘did they seriously sit here to ask that??’ “Thanks though.”

“Oh, that’s too bad! Well, what are you going to do instead? Can’t be more fun than a dance.”

Shrugging a shoulder as he took a bite of his peanut butter sandwich, Nico said “Me and Sasha are doing movies. Sorry, but movies and junk food with the bestie are better than a dance.”

A snort erupted from Ismael as he grabbed another carrot. “The ‘bestie?’ What are you, a girl?” Nico opened his mouth to snap something but Ismael turned to Sasha next. “I thought your name is Aleksandr?”

“It is. Sasha is my nickname.”

“That’s a fucking girl’s name.”

“Maybe you’re just fragile in your masculinity,” Nico all but snapped as he began packing his lunch back up only to be stopped by Ismael who grasped Nico’s hands. “What.”

“Chill, Jesus, and I wasn’t done eating.” Ismael literally started unpacking Nico’s lunch and began to eat. “Just some fucking questions. Relax. You’re so fucking high strung.”

Rolling his eyes, Nico yanked a carrot out of Ismael’s hand and ate it before he started to pack again. “I’m intense. And annoyed. Not the best combo.” Looking to Sasha, he asked “Done?”

Definitely. “Yup,” he answered as he began to put his own lunch away. They could eat after school when they wouldn’t have this jerk bugging them.

“Aw, c’mon, guys,” Monique said in such a sweet voice that actually made them both pause. Sasha had a feeling that they were about to be played by this girl and her sweet voice. Not to mention pretty face. Well, Sasha would get played by that aspect. “Sit. Ismael was just being annoying on purpose.”

Flicking a glance to Nico to let him decide what they’d do, his friend made a face and grudgingly sat back down. Ismael smirked and pulled Nico’s lunch between the two of them, unpacking all over again. “So why don’t you want to go anymore?”

“I don’t understand why you care,” Nico huffed as he yanked his juice out of Ismael’s hand before the other boy drank from it. “Dude, I have no intentions of contracting Mono, thank you. I don’t even share drinks with Sasha not to share them with you.”

Once, and only once, had Sasha tried to take a sip of water from Nico’s water bottle and his friend had had a freak out. They’d known each other since they were five when they met in kindergarten but those years of friendship did not guarantee sips of water. All he had wanted was a sip and instead he ended up with an angry Nico and a shirt full of water when it spilled all over him from Nico yanking it out of his hand.

“I want to know why you don’t want to go. I don’t see how that’s such a hard question to answer,” Ismael said, actually sounding annoyed even though he definitely had no right. “And I don’t know what the fuck that is, but if it’s a disease, I have no fucking diseases, thank you.” Taking a bite from Nico’s sandwich as Sasha’s friend glared at him, Ismael nodded to Sasha. “Why aren’t you going?”

He shrugged a lopsided shoulder and answered “I didn’t want to go in the beginning. Dances are stupid and anyways, it’s eighth grade. Who cares?”

“I think it’s important,” Monique jumped in, licking chip spices off a finger. Sasha honestly tried not to but he couldn’t help but stare at that finger between her perfect mouth.

Fuck.

Maybe the crush ship hadn’t sailed yet.

“It can cement friendships, relationships, and can be a good time.” Turning her whole body on the bench to face him, Monique smiled and asked “You wanna go with me?”

Sasha blinked in surprise and confusion. He was so dumbfounded that it took Nico kicking him under the table to get his brain back. “I thought…you’re going with Ismael.”

“My parents said I can’t go. Punishment for getting in trouble the other day,” Ismael said casually as though the reason he had gotten in trouble wasn’t for beating them up.

Nico must’ve been thinking the same thing because he mocked “’I can’t go to the dance because I got in trouble the other day.’ Because, you know, you didn’t beat me up or anything.” Ismael just watched Nico with a raised brow and his eyes glittering with amusement. “I’m still healing, in case you haven’t noticed. It hurts to lie down; it should not hurt for me to lie down or wash my face or put on my jeans.”

There was no stopping his laugh. Sasha honestly tried but not laughing just wasn’t going to happen. “Nic, I think it’s just those jeans. I had to wait ten minutes for you to put those things on.”

His friend blushed furiously as Monique laughed at his expense. “It wasn’t ten from the pants. I had to change my underwear because the one I had been wearing wasn’t fitting in the pants and free balling is not an option in tight jeans.” His eyes went wide as he slapped a hand on his mouth when he remembered who was sitting with them. He and Sasha said stuff like that all the time to each other but saying it in front of Ismael and Monique?

Yeah, no.

Snorting as he reached over and grabbed Nico’s juice – successfully taking a gulp before Nico had a chance to take it back – Ismael said “The only thing that would fit under those pants is a fucking g-string. But I mean, you’re like a fucking girl in every other way so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re wearing one.”

Both his and Nico’s jaws dropped at the nerve this piece of shit had. Sasha couldn’t hit him from this side of the table so he settled for something else instead. Grabbing Monique’s water bottle, he splashed the entire contents on Ismael. It sort of got on Nico’s food but he knew that his friend would forgive him.

“The fuck!” Ismael shouted as he stood abruptly, his face and shirt soaking wet. “The fuck is your problem?”

Putting his things away with Nico copying him, Sasha got to his feet and grabbed his bag after shoving the last of his lunch in it. He slid Monique’s water bottle back over to her before turning his focus to Ismael after Nico joined him by his side. “My problem is that you’re a piece of shit. Fuck off and leave us, especially Nico, the hell alone.” They started to walk off until Sasha remembered that he had never answered Monique’s question. “And Monique?” he called, “Movies and junk food with the bestie are better than a dance.”


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> _"I think that ten percent uncertainty is coming into play nowadays.”_

_Good luck,_ his grandmother mouthed as she handed the phone over to Sasha.

Viktor was on the line.

Yeah, Viktor. _That_ Viktor. Really, the only Viktor that Sasha actually knew.

Clearing his throat while trying not to totally freak out, Sasha put the phone to his ear and gave a meek “Hello?”

“Sasha?” Viktor said, his voice way deeper than anything Sasha could have ever imagined. He had an accent like Sasha’s grandmother, both of them having lived in Kiev with Viktor still currently living there. “This is Sasha?” Sasha couldn’t quite find his voice now that he was actually on the line with the man who was his father. Jesus, he wished Nico was here with him. His friend’s silent support would have been lovely. But knowing his friend who already knew that Sasha was to talk with Viktor today, he’d be here any minute now. “Sasha?”

“Um, yeah, this is, uh, Sasha,” he stumbled, finally finding his voice. “Um…hi.”

It was like he could hear actual warmth in Viktor’s voice. Whether it was real or not, he wasn’t sure, but it was nice to imagine. “Hello. It’s nice to finally hear your voice. I’ve been wondering how you sound. How are you?”

“Um, good, thanks.” Was he sounding too stiff? Too formal maybe? “Um, you?” If he was anything, it was stuttering too much. He was usually smoother than this. Even baba was thinking the same thing from the way that she was looking at him.

“Good, good. Tired for sure. Work keeps me quite busy.”

Sasha flicked a glance to the clock. It was almost four here so there it was… “It’s almost eleven there, right?”

“Yes. Night of a very long day. I called as soon as I could; I hope you weren’t occupied with something.”

“Oh, no, I was just doing my homework.” Baba gave him a glare. “Okay, I was about to.” Baba kept glaring, causing Sasha to get a little flustered. “Uhh, baba, stop. Fine, I wasn’t about to. I was thinking about it though.”

A soft chuckle came from the other end of the line that made Sasha’s heart swell in excitement. He had made Viktor laugh. That was a good thing, wasn’t it? Fathers and sons shared jokes. Nico and his dad did it all the time. “Well, at least it was in your thoughts. That’s more than your siblings manage. Of those that are actually old enough to go to school, I should say.”

His…right. Siblings. That was a weird ass concept beyond Nico. Sasha had brothers now. Half-brothers but close enough, right? And sisters. Wow. Sitting down in the lovely oversized Italian chair, Sasha asked “Um, you have six kids, right?”

“Well, seven now,” Viktor chuckled. “You would be the oldest now. After you comes Aleksey-”

“Oh, that’s fucking ironic,” Sasha couldn’t help but interrupt with a snort.

“Sorry?”

Blushing even though Viktor couldn’t see him, Sasha played with pieces of his hair as he mumbled “Well, you know, I’m Aleksandr and he’s Aleksey. Just…kinda ironic, I guess. It’s a good thing I never went by ‘Aleks’ or else we might have a problem.”

Baba laughed as she got up to go to the kitchen while Viktor snorted on the other end of the line. “Okay, fair point on that one. Although…I know it’s not exactly my place yet but I don’t appreciate the language. Refrain from it; it’s unnecessary.”

Face heating even more than before, Sasha replied “Sorry. Um, so…kids?” Baba disproved of language too but she let Sasha speak as he pleased as long as it wasn’t directed at her. He’d get his ass whooped if it were directed at her.

“Yes, yes! So Aleksey, the twins who are Roman and Ruslan, Pavlo, then Vira, and last is Yakiv.”

Talk about a brood. Jesus. “I bet Vira loves being the only girl.”

“Oh, does she love using that to her advantage,” Viktor laughed as Sasha’s doorbell rang, “She seems to think it entitles her to certain things. Amazing how aware five year olds are about certain things, no?”

“Um, yeah. How old is everyone else?” Sasha asked as he opened the door for Nico, putting a finger to his lips to keep him quiet. He didn’t know how to specifically ask how old Aleksey was. Sasha had a feeling that if there was going to be problems, it was going to come from him.

Nico waved to baba as he walked over and plopped himself in the seat Sasha had just vacated. Pointing to the phone, he raised his perfect brows and mouthed _Viktor?_

Sasha nodded as his father replied “Aleksey is nine, the twins seven, Pavlo six, Vira is five like I mentioned, and Yakiv is turning two soon. And you just turned thirteen, yes?”

“Yup,” Sasha answered, popping the ‘p’ as he sat down on the arm of the chair Nico was in. Baba came literally not two seconds later and shoved him off onto the hardwood floor. “Aye, baba! You could have just said get up!”

“Ain’t baba’s style, my dear Sasha,” Nico laughed as he poked Sasha with his toe. “Plus, you totally know better than to sit on baba’s nice furniture improperly.”

Snorting as she kissed Nico’s head before going back to the kitchen, baba said “I always knew I liked Nico for a reason. Always knew.”

About to give a snarky reply, Sasha paused when he heard Viktor say “You don’t give your grandmother a hard time, do you? I should hope not; she should be treated with the utmost respect. You shouldn’t be yelling at her, Aleksandr.”

His mouth dropped open at the audacity of this guy. Nico’s eyes were glowing with curiosity, dying to know what was up. When he noticed that Sasha wasn’t going to say anything, he slid off the chair and scooted over beside him, pressing his ear to the other side of the phone. Sasha was annoyed to say the least and pissed to say the most. What right did Viktor have to suddenly act like a father? And to use the name Aleksandr?

For that matter, Sasha _always_ treated his grandmother well, even when he was upset. She was his and all he had beside for Nico – his school friends didn’t count – and he would never ever disrespect her. His and his grandmother’s relationship was special to him and they were extremely close. They joked and yelled at each other for fun all the time. Who was this guy to suddenly say that it wasn’t okay?

Taking a deep breath to calm the storm brewing in both his heart and stomach because somehow, they were attached like weirdos, Sasha said “I never give baba a hard time, thank you. And I wasn’t yelling, we were joking around because that’s what we do. And don’t fucking call me Aleksandr.” He had thrown in the curse on purpose, knowing that it would piss of Viktor.

Good.

Beside him, Nico was silently laughing, his face going red form holding it in. Viktor was hardly amused though. “We spoke about language already, I will not repeat myself. And whether you like it or not, your name is Aleksandr and you should be blessed that you have such a beautiful name.”

“Blessed his butt,” Nico burst into laughter, “Who wants to be named after an egotistical ballerina who only loves herself?”

He tried to shut his friend up with a few slaps or shoves but the damage had already been done. Nico was way too close to the phone for Viktor to miss what was said. “I don’t know who spoke but they need to learn some manners-”

“I think maybe we should just say our goodbyes before everyone starts getting…annoyed with each other,” Sasha interrupted although something told him that Viktor probably wasn’t a fan of being interrupted. “This is the first time we talked and obviously it’s a process in getting to know each other.”

Nico and even baba gave him a thumbs up each like he knew exactly what to say to diffuse the situation. Even Viktor sounded impressed. Or maybe it was relieved. It was going to take Sasha some time for him to learn this man’s quirks. “You’re right. Plus, it is late and I must be getting to sleep. Have a good rest of your afternoon, Sasha, and I hope to speak to you again soon.”

“Thanks and you have a good night. Bye,” he said before shutting the phone. Letting out a huff, Sasha mumbled “That was super hard and stressful. Oh my God.” He turned to look at Nico beside him, “Is it always that hard to talk to dads?”

Looking thoughtful as he bit on the corner of his bottom lip, Nico replied “Well, I mean it depends. Obviously, you didn’t grow up with yours. But some people have trouble even when they do so really, it all matters on the people. But this was just a first convo; you guys just need a little time to get to know each other and get used to one another.”

Nodding, Sasha considered this. It did make sense so it had to be right. And Nico was generally good with this stuff so…his friend had to be on to something. Once he and Viktor talked more, maybe even met one day, they would fall into the whole father/son thing. They just needed some time was all.

 

 

“Ready for movies?” Nico asked excitedly like they had never watched movies together before as they walked out of school to head home. After seeing all the stress people were going through for the stupid dance, both of them were relieved that they weren’t going. “I’m ready! Bwahahaha!”

“You didn’t seriously just say ‘bwahaha.’”

Smiling cheekily as they made their way to the front gate, Nico laughed “Naw, man, you’re missing a ‘ha!’” Descending into a fit of laughter because ever since he had come out to his parents, Nico was happier than he used to be, his friend fist pumped into the sky. “Bwahahaha.”

Grabbing Nico’s arm and pulling it down, Sasha said in mock disappointment “Dude, don’t lower us to Jersey level. We be New Yorkers, bitch. Don’t make us trash status with your ugly fist pump.”

“Aw, but, Sasha!” Nico snorted in his fit of laughter as he yanked his arm back. “Maybe I want-”

“Nicolas!”

They both halted in their tracks, turning only their heads to look at each other with the ‘uh’ face before they turned fully to face Ismael. “Maybe we should have just kept walking,” Sasha whispered to Nico before Ismael made it to them.

“Totally. Is it too late to turn around and run?”

“Probs.”

“Damn.”

Ismael sauntered up to them, that stupid smirk plastered on his face. Of course, to be the ‘cool guy,’ he had his bag slung on one shoulder like the typical stupid jerk he was. “What up, ladies.”

“You’re lucky Sasha doesn’t have a water bottle in his hand,” Nico muttered as he crossed his arms and glared at Ismael.

“He’s pretty pathetic if all he can do is splash me with water,” Ismael snorted this very ugly sounding snort, “Oh wait, he can’t hit anyways. He punches for shit.”

Sasha was about to defend himself but Nico beat him to it. “I think you’re forgetting that he practically broke your dick.” Ismael’s eyes flared but Nico kept going before the other boy could speak. “Now, what the…”

“Fuck,” Sasha yawned. Even though Viktor wasn’t around, his heart jumped in excitement from that bit of rebellion.

“Do you want?”

The flame was still in Ismael’s eyes but the other boy didn’t go back to their bickering. “I’m joining you guys for movies.”

First, they looked at one another, turning their heads so they could share a confused and shocked glance before they looked back at Ismael. Then, they broke into laughter. Funny. So funny. “You had me there for a second,” Nico said, his face red from his laughs, “Oh man, that’s a good one.”

Annoyance flickered in Ismael’s eyes as his grip on his bag tightened. “I don’t see what’s so fucking funny. I’m serious. I’m joining you stupid idiots.”

“If we’re stupid idiots, why do you want to join us?” Sasha asked as he wiped away his tears of laughter. “Dude, do you actually believe that we would even want you there? You didn’t know we existed until you beat the shit out of Nic. Go fuck yourself and watch your own damn movies.”

Now it wasn’t just annoyance but anger also flaring in the larger boy’s brown eyes. He clenched his jaw tight and then turned to Nico. Clearing his throat, he nodded to Nico “I’m joining you for movies.”

Why the hell did he think that if he said it to Nico that anything would be different? What the hell was this guy’s issue? Sasha didn’t want to believe it but, damn, Ismael really did seem obsessed with Nico ever since the beating. What the fuck?

His friend had a look on his face that meant that he was thinking everything that Sasha was. Sighing as he scratched his head and hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans – just jeans, not thee jeans – Nico asked “Why’re you so intent on watching movies with us? Dude, you don’t even know us.”

Shrugging all carefree like as if he hadn’t thought about bashing in Sasha’s face, Ismael stuck his free hand in his pocket and replied “Can’t go to the dance so I need something to do. Simple.”

“Simple.”

“Yup.”

Rolling his eyes and huffing in exasperation, Nico looked to Sasha who made a face like ‘I don’t know either, dude’ before he focused back on Ismael. It seemed that the other boy handled conversation better if it came from Nico rather than Sasha. “Why would I want the guy who beat me up to watch movies with me and my bestie? Explain that one to me, dear Ismael.”

Another shrug. “We’re over that, aren’t we? Now I wanna watch movies because I don’t want to spend my night being bored as fuck.”

Sasha huffed but he kept his mouth shut to let Nico handle this. His friend also huffed and crossed his arms once more. “Maybe movies is code for porn.”

“Fine,” Ismael said nonchalantly with a smirk, “I’ll watch porn with you bitches. Worried my dick is bigger?”

A snort erupted from Sasha as Nico laughed “Dear Ismael, I’m very happy with my dick. He’s a beauty and I wouldn’t change him for the world. Sasha, you happy with yours?”

“He’s a stunner.”

Nico nodded with a smile while Ismael stared at them like they were idiots. “Fine, join us for movies but we got ground rules and you break one?”

“We throw your fucking ass out,” Sasha finished, also crossing his arms because it made them look badass and like a unified force. “One? Since it’s my house, anything I say goes. Two? We already picked the movies we want so you don’t get a say. You shut up and watch and eat junk food. Three? You disrespect my grandma-”

“We throw your ass on the street,” Nico concluded. Sticking out his hand to shake it with Ismael who hadn’t said a word nor made a face, his friend said “Deal?”

Ismael looked between them a second before letting his gaze rest on Nico with his full focus. Smile eclipsing his trademark smirk, Ismael shrugged and accepted the hand. “Deal.”


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> _“’S’okay, I love you anyways.”_

“I’m totally not comfortable with Ismael coming over,” Nico muttered as they set up the DVD player in the entertainment room. It was the only room in the house besides his own that Sasha was allowed to decorate as he pleased with whatever style of things he liked. It didn’t even matter if it was a bean bag from a thrift store – this room and his own were his turf. No fancy Italian furniture here, thank you. Everything was allowed to be used and enjoyed without worry as they should be.

Snorting as he plugged in the correct colored wires from the player to the television, Sasha replied “And what? I am? But as long as he follows the rules and doesn’t cause problems…we should be alright, I think.” Placing their pile of movies next to the tv, he added “Why the hell is he so obsessed all of the sudden? Like, what the fuck?”

Dropping down into one of the entertainment seats – very very fancy seats that Sasha and Nico had picked out – Nico pulled the lever to raise the leg rest as he slouched into the back. Making a face as he legit scratched his balls like the idiot he was, he said “Remember when I said I’m ninety percent sure that he isn’t gay? I think that ten percent uncertainty is coming into play nowadays.”

“You think?” Sasha asked in surprise. It would help explain why Ismael was suddenly so obsessed with Nico though. “Maybe he’s bicurious? But he seems a bit…homophobic, don’t you think?”

“I do,” Nico nodded with his ‘thinking face,’ “Which is why his behavior is really confusing.” Resting a foot on his knee as he reclined, he fell silent while biting his lip, deep in his thoughts. Sasha left him to them as he walked out of the room and went downstairs to the main floor of the sprawling house. It was snack collecting time.

Smiling to baba as he bounced into the kitchen, Sasha paused when she kept staring. “What?”

“I don’t know if I like this boy coming over.”

Well, it seemed they weren’t the only ones with this thought. But it was way too late now; Ismael would be here any-

_Ring!_

Minute.

“Honestly, baba,” Sasha said as he walked over to the door, “Me and Nic were saying the same thing. But we’ll just have to see how this goes.” He opened the door after undoing the locks, “Ismael.”

“Sasha,” the other boy said with a quick brow raise as a greeting. He had two huge bags of chips in his hands. When he noticed Sasha’s eyes on them, he raised them up and added “I brought chips.”

“Chips are good,” he nodded as he let Ismael in as baba was passing, who took the time to pause and glance at Ismael. “Baba, Ismael. Ismael, my grandma.” They had technically met if meeting counted as them all sitting in the principal’s office after the fight.

Surprisingly, Ismael actually looked embarrassed. Maybe the guy had some manners somewhere in there. He was probably remembering that their before ‘meeting’ hadn’t been a good one. Tucking one of the bags under an arm, Ismael stuck out a hand. “Uh, hi, ma’am. Thank you for having me.”

Baba’s face looked totally normal, not at all revealing her feelings, as she took his hand and then walked off while telling them to have fun. Despite her blank look, Sasha could tell that she was as surprised as him in Ismael’s manners. It was unnatural. “Well,” Sasha began, “since I have you down here, you get to help in snack delivery.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ismael replied although he seemed to be looking around for someone. Or maybe he was just taking in the enormity of the brownstone. Sasha knew that he was far more privileged than most people in his school. Than most people in general. “It’s pretty…quiet. Parents working or something? No siblings?” He gave another glance around, “Nicolas isn’t here yet? Thought he would be.”

 _Yup, obsessed._ Sasha was not comfortable with this conclusion at all. “No siblings. No parents. Just me and baba. And Nico’s upstairs being A LAZY ASS!” He smiled and shook his head as Nico yelled back “You never asked for help!”

Ease seemed to cross Ismael’s face as he heard Nico’s voice. “No parents? They like dead or something?”

“Way to be blunt,” Sasha snorted but he wasn’t even close to offended. Maybe if they had died, he would have liked them better. “Nah. They just didn’t want me. Well, mom didn’t; dad didn’t know I existed until like a year ago.”

“Damn,” Ismael said in shock as he helped grab soda from the fridge. “Sorry.”

With a shoulder shrug, Sasha said “Don’t be. I’m not. My grandmother is plenty.” Although, he still wouldn’t mind the experience of having parents. Everyone wanted something that they were denied though. “What about you? Siblings, parents…?”

As he grabbed the box of cookies, Ismael made a face like he was trying to decide what he should divulge. Sasha honestly didn’t care; he was just trying to do the whole civil small talk thing. Whether he was fed a lie or not didn’t matter to him. After setting their haul into two boxes and they began walking to the stairs, Ismael finally said “Four siblings. I’m the second youngest. All brothers and both parents.”

Way too much testosterone in that home. Maybe that was why Ismael was an ass although that was hardly fair to other people who were all brothers and weren’t asses. “Must drive your mom crazy to be the only woman. Dude, take your hand out of your pants,” Sasha added as they walked in to Nico still slouching in the chair but now with his hand down his joggers.

“It’s only in my pants, chill,” Nico laughed, still staring up at the ceiling. “My balls wanted comforting company.”

“Oh,” Sasha replied in a mock curious voice, “Did you lose your dick? Where’d he go?”

“Lost in the oblivion of my fantasies,” Nico laughed as he pulled his hand out and sat up. “Oh, look who it is. Ismael. I must say, I’m more happy to see that box of snacks in your hands than you but,” his friend shrugged while pursing his lips, “oh well.”

Ismael said nothing as he walked in and set the box on the floor beside the entertainment couch, plopping himself down beside it. “Whatever,” he said as Sasha followed him to drop his box but walked back to the tv to put in a movie, “What are we watching? Better not be some pussy ass movies because of you ladies.”

At first, Sasha’s brain didn’t even register the weird sound he heard as a slap until he took the time to process it and turn around when everything went quiet. Ismael had his head turned towards Nico so Sasha couldn’t see his expression but his tense body said enough. Nico was looking triumphant like he knew that Ismael couldn’t do anything in this house.

When he finally found his voice, Ismael snarled “Bitch, don’t you fucking hit me.”

Nico pointed to Sasha who filled in “Bitch.”

“Watch your mouth,” Nico finished with a smile, sitting crossed legged in his seat. “You’re here only because we took pity on you. You don’t have to be here; you’re the one who forced yourself upon us. So you will sit your ass down, shut up, and watch whatever the hell we want which was actually one of the rules which you seemed to have already forgotten. Stop with the insults.”

Rubbing the back of his head where he must have been slapped, Ismael said in an annoyed voice “You don’t fucking hit me. Get it? I’ll jump your fucking-”

“Out,” Sasha cut in with a vicious tone. This ass could go find something else to do with his night. They weren’t going to ruin theirs for him. “Ismael. Out.”

Turning back around and crossing his arms in defiance, Ismael glared at Sasha. “I’m not fucking going nowhere. Put the goddamn movie in.”

“Then watch your fucking mouth.”

Anger flashed in his eyes for a brief second but Ismael remained silent as he relaxed against the foot of the couch. Nico was looking incredibly smug as he reclined once more in his seat, fist pumping the air in victory. Sasha wanted to tell his friend to stop trying to be like the trash across the river but he didn’t want Ismael to catch onto Nico’s victory cheer and get pissed all over again.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Sasha focused back on setting up the movie, praying that this would go all right. Nico was sleeping over so they could watch movies all night but what the fuck was he supposed to do with Ismael? How long was this guy going to stay? Popping _The Incredible Hulk_ into the DVD player, Sasha grabbed the remote before walking over and dropping himself into the other seat beside Nico’s. For almost three thousand, you’d think that the couch would have more than two seats but it was still awesome with each seat having its own tray table. Not to mention the reclining seats with the leg rests and the huge center console that had a little plug strip, cupholders, a table, and overhead lights.

Almost three thousand was pretty damn worth it. Plus, Ismael seemed content on the floor, leaning up on the center console between Nico and Sasha so who needed a third seat? There were saucer chairs and bean bags but Ismael didn’t look like he was moving any time soon.

“You forgot the lights, dork,” Nico snorted as he reached down to search through the box of snacks by his feet. “We should totally get them hooked up to a remote to turn them off and on without getting up. They do that, right? I think so.” Not finding what he wanted in the first box, he leaned across Ismael to search the second which was by Sasha’s feet. He looked ready to fall out of his seat and into Ismael’s lap. Sasha didn’t understand why he just didn’t ask Sasha to grab him what he wanted. Until he looked at Ismael.

Then he had an idea why.

Tense as hell and seemingly not breathing, Ismael was frozen as Nico leaned over him. Sasha wanted to laugh at Nico’s little test of that uncertain ten percent. Maybe there was that part of his friend that still had Ismael in his fantasies. He wasn’t going to lie; he still thought about Monique a lot even though she hadn’t done anything when Ismael had bothered them.

“I think so,” Sasha replied, barely stifling the amusement he was feeling from coming out into his voice. The box wasn’t that deep but Nico sure was taking his time. “But how do you set up stuff like that? This old brownstone sure as hell ain’t one of those ‘smart’ houses. What are you trying to find exactly?”

“Where’s my Hershey’s, man?”

Nico hated Hershey’s. Nico hated chocolate in general unless it was bittersweet or semi-sweet. Dark chocolate he could generally do once in a while.

“I, uh, don’t think I remember putting…any,” Ismael said slowly. Sasha wondered if he was nervous because his ‘masculinity’ was at risk or because he had a thing for Nico. “Maybe…we left it in the kitchen.”

Nico leaned out just a bit farther, winking to Sasha without Ismael noticing, and replied “You sure? Sasha, why do you always forget my snacks but remember yours? Cruel, bestie.”

“I’m selfish,” he laughed because he really couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Stretch anymore and you’re gonna fall.”

“Then Ismael will break my fall.”

God, he’d love to be able to see Ismael’s face right now because his neck was red as fuck. “He doesn’t exactly look very cushiony.”

“Fuck you,” Ismael snapped like he was offended, turning to glare fiercely at Sasha. Wait…was he? For a second after his outburst, even Ismael looked confused like ‘the fuck did I just say?’ He must have gotten tired of the game or realized that his outburst left room for questions because suddenly, he shoved Nico to the floor. “Gimme some fucking space, man. What the hell.”

His friend just looked incredibly amused, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously as he propped himself up from the floor with just an arm, chin cradled in his palm. “I just wanted snacks. Sorry I was nice and didn’t want to trouble anyone by asking.”

Ismael suddenly stood and glanced around but somehow managed not to make direct eye contact with anyone in the process. “Bathroom?”

“Out the door, two doors to your left,” Sasha answered as he and Nico shared amused glances. Making Ismael uncomfortable was fun as hell. “Can you hit the lights on your way out?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ismael said quickly as he practically ran out of the room, hitting the switch as he did. The room descended into darkness and both Sasha and Nico waited until they heard the bathroom door close before bursting into laughter.

“Score one for us,” Nico laughed as he rolled to his feet and dropped back into his chair after grabbing a few cookies. “Five bucks says he’ll sit in one of the chairs this time.”

Pushing play on the movie and skipping through all the random trailers before the main menu, Sasha snorted “I don’t take bets that I’ll lose, thank you. You’re playing with fire though, lemme tell you.” Popping a cookie into his mouth, Nico just laughed once more as he shook his head and got comfortable as Sasha pushed play.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Warning comes with the chpt for dubious consent  
> Enjoy! Hope you guys are enjoying the story
> 
> _“I think I need to tell you something.”_

Nico wasn’t particularly sure why exactly he was messing with Ismael but he had to admit that it was a whole lot of fun. He was so sure that the other boy’s nose was going to burst out bleeding like they did in anime shows when he practically draped himself over him. The fun was on pause though because Nico was busy admiring Tony Stark and because he had been right.

Ismael was literally across the room.

“Gwyneth or Scarlett?” Nico asked Sasha curiously, as he rested his head on the center console. He felt like sliding down onto the floor but it seemed like so much effort. “Or Liv?”

“Probably Liv,” Sasha answered absently, focusing on the screen while munching some popcorn. “I think Iron Man is better than Hulk though. Both movie and superhero. Tony or Bruce?”

He considered his answer for a minute before replying “Tony’s nice but neither of them are really my thing. But-”

“Your thing?”

Both of them turned to look at Ismael curled up in one of the saucer chairs, a look of careful curiosity on his handsome face. Sure, Nico had never come out right and told Ismael or anyone at school that he was gay but… _come on._ Nico felt he was just a tad obvious. “Yeah, you know, like my type? People have types. Like how Sasha has a thing for black girls. You know, preferences.”

“Jackass,” Sasha muttered before throwing a handful of popcorn at him. He’d be sorry when they had to clean up tomorrow. “Tell your own business, not mine.”

“I know what a thing is,” Ismael said with an eyeroll. Sitting up straighter in his seat and focusing entirely on Nico, he added “Tony or Bruce? Those are-”

“Men,” Nico finished with a smile because _duh._ “I’m aware. Men are very much my thing. Very _very_ much. I mean, c’mon, Ismael, I’m wearing super skinny joggers. They may be drop crotch but like seriously. Hello? My jeans I wore to school that seemed to have bothered you?” He had tried figuring out why the hell his jeans had bugged Ismael when it was literally none of his business at all but Nico came up with nothing. Turning his head to stare at Sasha’s profile, Nico asked “Can you buy me a pair of white ones? I think I’d look good in white jeans.”

His friend didn’t even bother to look at him, his focus so fully engrossed in the movie. “No white after Labor Day.”

“Sasha, it’s May. Technically, we are now before Labor Day.”

Popping a popcorn in his mouth, Sasha said after he swallowed “We’ll go tomorrow and see if we find.”

“Yes!” Nico cheered with a laugh and fist pump. When Sasha just rolled his eyes, Nico snorted “Dude, they have magical properties. I need them in every color.”

“Please don’t start preaching about your ass again. Please.”

“So…are you guys like a thing?” Ismael piped up, not even bothering with the movie anymore. Nico knew that he was crazy and it was just because he was tired and because of the dim of the room, but it totally looked like Ismael was…disappointed.

He had to be imagining it.

Sasha burst into laughter so hard that he started to choke. Thank God he didn’t have food in his mouth. That didn’t stop Nico from slamming his bestie’s back for the fun of it. Shoving his hand off, Sasha replied “Does Nic look like a black girl to you? My dude is fine as fuck but I don’t go that way at all. Plus, I’m not even his type even if he lies to me and says I’m handsome.”

For the love of… “Sasha, seriously-”

“What’s your type?” Ismael cut in curiously. Nico swore that the only reason Ismael ever came around was because of him. Anything to do with Sasha either pissed the other boy off or just plain annoyed him.

“Why? Interested?” Nico winked with a salacious smile. Or rather, what he thought was a salacious smile. He wasn’t actually too sure. Sexy wasn’t exactly his thing. Nico was the typical awkward thirteen year old; sexy was not in his vocabulary. For himself. There were plenty of sexy men around, of course.

Ismael’s eyes went wide with a small flash of panic running through them before it turned to anger. “What? No. Fuck no. I’m just asking a God fucking question. God.”

“Alright, alright, relax,” Nico muttered as he rolled his eyes and turned back to the movie. “Just joking. Contrary to stereotypical gay beliefs, gay guys don’t just go around hitting on every straight guy they see. We’re not-” he paused and waited for Sasha to fill in the curse word but his friend was completely lost in the movie. “Sasha.”

“Huh? Oh, uh, repeat the sentence so I can pick an appropriate word.”

He was so not repeating himself. Pointing at Ismael, he huffed “My point is, gay guys aren’t drooling at straight dudes’ feet and we’re not sexual predators. We’re dudes just like any other dudes.”

“I’m trying to watch a movie,” Sasha interrupted as he loudly slurped from the straw in his can of soda, “Give the gay education later, please.”

Nico waited for Ismael to say more or anything really, but the other boy kept his silence. Topic over apparently. Worked for him. Sliding down from the couch and rolling into a comfortable position on the floor, he mumbled to anyone listening “Can I get- oof.” Stupid Sasha aiming for his head. “I’m not even going to thank you for the pillow now,” Nico muttered as he shoved it under his head.

“’S’okay, I love you anyways.”

“Pft, how can anyone not love my amazingness?”

 _Iron Man_ could never be considered boring but Nico must have been beyond exhausted because one moment he was watching Tony Stark kick ass and the next, he was blinking his heavy eyes open as the credits rolled on the big screen. Usually Sasha never let Nico live it down when he fell asleep during a movie and the fact that Nico had slept undisturbed meant that his friend must have knocked out too.

Ha. That loser.

About to pick his head up to see if his suspicions were true, Nico froze as a hand brushed softly through his hair. Sasha most definitely did not pet Nico’s head. Actually, he had done it once as a form of comfort when they were little and Nico had busted open his knee after his skateboard hit a hole in the sidewalk and flung him fifty miles. But Nico was neither crying nor bleeding so Sasha would not be petting him. Ismael was unaccounted for but Nico had a feeling that he was the huge mass of bodily warmth sitting beside him.

Running his hand through Nico’s hair.

Flitting his eyes back shut because he had a feeling that Ismael didn’t know that he was awake yet, he decided to see where this was going to go. Sasha had to be fast asleep because there was no way he’d let Ismael touch Nico and for that matter, Ismael wouldn’t let Sasha see him touching anyways.

A calloused finger traced the shell of his ear.

Yeah, Ismael was definitely ten percent gay. Or at least ten percent curious. No straight guy was going to sit here and brush his hair or trace his ear. His heart was already fluttering just from the simple touches but it got even worse when the finger started to trace down his jaw, halting beneath his lips.

If Ismael tried to kiss him or something, there was no way he’d be able to keep up the sleeping act. All he had to do was focus on keeping his breathing even and his eyes softly shut. It sounded so easy in his head and kind of was up until Ismael’s thumb brushed against Nico’s bottom lip. He just stopped breathing entirely then. At least he kept his eyes closed though.

Ismael must not have noticed his lack of breathing because the other boy’s thumb remained in place before, thankfully, the hand moved on as it slowly trailed down Nico’s neck. The hand came to a halt at the collar of his shirt, two fingers dipping just underneath. What exactly was Ismael doing? Feeling him up? Nico wasn’t entirely comfortable with it but he had no idea how he was supposed to ‘wake up’ now that he had let it go on this long. Maybe he’d just let Ismael finish his exploration; they’d avoid awkwardness and the possibility of Ismael getting upset.

Was he seriously pushing aside his discomfort for Ismael’s benefit?

The hand had long ago moved on, now resting on his stomach. There was no stopping the soft little sigh that escaped his mouth when the hand softly laid flat under his shirt. The touch was new and made all his nerve endings light up in this weird happiness. Ismael had frozen when the sigh came but he must have decided that Nico was still asleep after a few quiet seconds because he began to almost tenderly rub the pads of his fingers on Nico’s stomach.

He couldn’t lie, the touch _was_ soothing but…weird. And when a pinkie finger toyed with the band of his pants, Nico knew that he was done playing asleep. Well, in his head, he said he was but he was still so confused on how he was supposed to wake up without making issues. The finger was only playing with the band…maybe it wasn’t such a big deal. He was probably just overreacting. Why did Sasha have to be asleep? Damn him and his lack of ability to stay up.

Maybe God had been listening to his inner turmoil because Ismael’s hand pulled out from beneath his shirt. Thank God. Or at least, it was a relief up until Ismael laid down next to him and played the big spoon to his little one with an arm wrapping around Nico’s waist.

Okay, the dude was definitely ten percent not straight because there was most definitely a horny teenage erection pressing against him. Nico felt like the whole world could hear the pounding of his heart from how loud it was in the silence. He’d bet billions that he didn’t even have that Ismael would lie for no more than five minutes; both to make sure he stayed awake and alert and to make sure that he wasn’t near when Nico ‘woke up.’ The other boy wanted a taste of cuddling apparently.

Alright, Nico could wait out five minutes. No problem. Man, Sasha was going to freak when Nico told him about this. What time was it anyways? Didn’t Ismael have to go home or something? Nico wasn’t sure he could wait out five minutes anymore because he had to pee and his arm had fallen asleep. Crap. He really needed to get up. Like now before he peed on himself and would have to get his arm cut off from the lack of circulation. _Dammit, Ismael, get up already._

When a soft vibration sounded in the quiet room, Nico once again thanked God. Neither he nor Sasha had phones which meant it had to be Ismael’s. The arm around his waist tightened for a second before a quiet frustrated sigh came from the boy wrapped around him. The vibration came again and this time, Ismael muttered “Fucking hell,” before unwrapping himself and getting up.

Nico counted to a hundred before slowly stretching and rubbing his eyes to make it seem like he had just woken up. Hopefully, it was convincing. Sitting up, he smiled as he looked at Sasha tightly curled up in one of the entertainment seats with his long legs practically spilling out. Nico stretched his arms up to make sure he had circulation again before glancing over at Ismael who was now sitting back in his chair, using his phone. “Guess me and Sasha are lightweights compared to you.”

Ismael was gnawing on his thumbnail and Nico couldn’t help but wonder if it was the one that had rubbed his lip. His brows were furrowed with frustration and he said nothing in reply, his attention entirely on the phone. Maybe he was past curfew or something.

Whatever. He got to his feet although it was painful on account of a full bladder and made his way out the room to the bathroom. When he got back, Ismael had disappeared. Maybe he wanted something from the kitchen or needed another bathroom. Nico was just curious enough to go bother looking. Softly going down the stairs because baba was probably asleep, he nearly missed Ismael sitting in the dark of the foyer, putting on his shoes.

Leaning on the wall, Nico said “People say bye. Just saying.”

Head flicking up so fast that Nico was surprised it didn’t snap, Ismael sat still for a moment before getting to his feet and brushing off invisible dust. Invisible because baba never had anything less than spotless in this house. “Yeah…uh…sorry. Aleks- Sasha was sleeping and you were…wherever so…yeah.”

Talk about lame excuse. “I guess. Still rude.”

Walking over like he was trying to make a decision, Ismael backed Nico up into the wall with their bodies nearly pressed against each other. “Very rude,” Ismael whispered, “My bad.”

Raising a brow as he examined the boy before him, Nico replied “Going home?”

“I wasn’t paying attention to the time so I gotta go before my punishment gets any worse. You’ll make it up to me on Monday. I won’t be able to go out over the weekend.”

What the hell? “Make it up to you? How’s it my fault?”

Smirking before he backed away and turned towards the door, Ismael called softly behind himself “I only stayed for you. I expect a hell of a payment from you on Monday.”

Nico stared dumbfounded after Ismael, the other boy opening the door and walking out before Nico could find his words. Payment? What the hell did this idiot expect? Both Nico and Sasha had already sort of figured that Ismael had come because of Nico but hearing it confirmed was a bit different.

Payment?


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> _"I win? You get to train with the cheer squad for a week.”_

He jumped as the locker beside him slammed shut. Sasha had been lost in his head all day, not to mention last night. He wasn’t to blame, or at least he didn’t feel like he should be, being that it was Viktor’s fault. His dad – Jesus, what a concept – had made him speak with his ‘stepmother’ yesterday.

Sasha did not like her at all.

It wasn’t that she had been rude, mean, or even impolite but it just felt like she was so…phony in the way that she spoke to him. Like she had been practicing a script for the past week and then it had been showtime. The cheer was too false, the laughs just that tad too loud. Sasha had a feeling that Nico’s guess of her being a bitch was probably going to be true. Who knew, maybe she really was a nice person but was just having trouble with the concept of her husband with another child. That wasn’t an easy thing, he knew that.

But while Sasha was completely lost, Nico was a bundle of nerves. Had been all weekend and especially had been today. What the reason was though, he had yet to figure out. He’d asked a billion times but it hadn’t worked which was weird because they had always been open books with each other.

Shutting his locker, Sasha turned and found himself lost in his friend’s piercing blue eyes. They each searched each other’s eyes before Nico murmured “I think I need to tell you something.”

“Finally!” Sasha exclaimed with relief, looking up to the roof like a praise to Jesus. Nico snorted and Sasha knew that he was rolling his eyes. “You’ve driven me insane the past three days, dude. Omigod. Please, just tell me. Unload.”

Looking around quickly, Nico scooted in closer and lowered his voice to where Sasha had to lean in to hear. “I know for a fact that Ismael is ten percent curious. Maybe even ten percent gay.”

He tilted his head in wonder. How could Nic know that for sure? Unless he saw something or… “Fuck, did he make a pass at you or something? We both know he’s practically obsessed with you.” Nico blushed so red that Sasha knew he was onto something. “Fuck my life. What? When? Oh shit shit shit! Movie night, huh?” Even the tips of his ears were red now. “Fuck! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Hey, Aleksandr!”

They both jumped in surprise. When had Monique shown up? “Uh, hey!” Hopefully she hadn’t heard anything of what they had said. “What’s up?”

Smiling, Sasha noted that she had her hair done in a different type of braid today. She may not be against bullying but dammit, she was beautiful. “Nothing much. You wanna eat lunch together?” She smiled over at Nico. “You too, Nicolas?”

Nico looked at Sasha the same moment Sasha looked at his friend. Since when did Monique ask to eat with them? Everything was changing way too fast lately. “Uh…” Sasha trailed, not entirely sure what to say.

Apparently, he didn’t have to say anything.

“They’ll eat with us. Why wouldn’t they?” Ismael snorted like they were all idiots for even thinking otherwise. He was leaning against the lockers behind Nico, his arm practically over Nico’s head. He was stretched out in a way that was both showy and intimidating in nature. Tilting his head to focus solely on Nico, Ismael smirked “Right, Nicolas?”

Dear Lord, Sasha knew in that second that his friend was definitely not over his crush. Nico’s eyes were doe-wide and his lips slightly parted like he had no idea how to answer with Ismael so close. Flushing, Nico pushed some space between himself and Ismael and replied “That’s very assuming of you. Typical.”

“Nico!”

Monique and Ismael had no idea who the owner of the voice was but Sasha and Nic knew very well who the squeak belonged to. They both groaned collectively before Nico spun to face the incoming ball of sunshine, making sure his dazzling polite smile was on his face. Dare he say it, but Ismael looked jealous to not have that smile for himself. “Leslie! Hi.”

With a final bounce to come directly in front of Nico, Leslie said in excitement “Hi!” She was especially sunshiney today with her orange curls in a tight bun atop her head and her outfit too yellow for Sasha’s tastes. “Hey Sasha! How are you guys?”

The question was a collective one but they both knew who was supposed to answer. “I’m good,” Nico smiled, his hands shoved in the pockets of another new pair of jeans.

Sometimes, Sasha was sure he shopped more for his friend than himself. He didn’t care if he wore the same pair of jeans until they were too ragedy to live anymore. Nico liked to change it up practically every day. He had to be ‘unpredictable.’

Oh-kay.

“Oh, I like you pants!” Leslie squealed. One day, Sasha hoped that he’d have a girl looking at him the way Leslie practically worshipped Nico. No stereotyping or whatever about Nic and all but he was so obviously gay. Leslie needed to catch on one of these days. She tentatively touched his thigh where there was a tear and some fraying much like there was on one of his knees and the opposite ankle. The tear on his thigh and knee were large where skin could be seen so Nico had worn black leggings under so he wouldn’t get in trouble for showing too much skin.

_“It’s called style, Sasha.”_

Yup, this was his bestie. Sasha may not see sense in his fashion choices but he loved him regardless.

Her face took on the look of a concerned mother duck as she fingered the legging underneath. Talk about no sense of space. Ismael’s face was blank but there was just this touch of fire in his eyes. It was totally jealousy. Or maybe possessiveness. Either one wasn’t really a good thing. “The weather is hot though. You’re okay in so many layers?”

Shrugging while still having his nice smile on, Nico replied “I’m fine. It’s only two layers anyways and the leggings are light.” Leslie looked like she was thinking on this before she blushed, understanding what the missing third layer was. “So what’s up?”

“Do you want to have lunch with me? My mom made her signature enchiladas last night and gave me the rest for lunch today! I know how much you like them so I thought we could share?”

“Your popularity is starting to piss me off,” Sasha couldn’t help but laugh to his friend as Nico looked like he was stuck in the most complicated position in the world. It kind of was; Leslie’s mom made bomb ass diggity enchiladas for someone not even remotely close to any sort of Hispanic lineage. They were delicious. “And he’d love to,” he added to Leslie. They had played another round of dares and Nico owed one of doing something nice for Leslie.

This would count perfectly.

Smiling wide with his stupid dimples, Nico said in such a sincere voice that Sasha almost actually believed him “I’d love to. Thank you.”

It was like Leslie’s entire world had lit up. There was world peace, no more hungry babies, and all the animals lived happily ever after. “Great! I have to go grab a paper from my science class first. I’ll meet you outside!”

With that, she skipped off while humming so loud, the world could hear her.

“Wow, such a gentleman,” Sasha snorted loud, not being able to help himself anymore as he fell into a fit of laughter. “Save me an enchilada, yeah?”

His smile slipped off his face and his eyes narrowed accusingly. “I blame you.”

“The fuck did you say yes for?” Ismael cut in, seemingly pissed. “Who the fuck is she anyways? She looks like a fucking alien with her forehead. And where the fuck are her eyebrows?”

A slam caused anyone in the hallway to stop and stare in shock. Hell, even Sasha. Nico had shoved Ismael back hard into the lockers and was now poking him in the chest with a harsh finger. Ismael was just as shocked as everyone else as he looked down at Nico, his finger, and those blazing blues. “Watch your-”

“Fucking,” Sasha threw in helpfully.

“Mouth. It’s not cool to be rude or an ass. Her name is Leslie, she’s my downstairs neighbor, she’s a sweetheart, and way better lunch company than you could ever be. You’re just a macho jerk who thinks he can just throw around insults because why not. News flash? You don’t. It takes a lot of effort to be a mean person; it takes none to be a decent one and very little to be a good one.”

Ismael was grinding his jaw and only said “Get your finger out of my face.”

“My finger,” Nico snorted as he poked Ismael hard, “is at your chest. You should take anatomy lessons.”

This was probably going to escalate and Sasha really didn’t want either of them to get beat up again. Not to mention that both his grandma and Nico’s parents would be pissed as fuck if they got into another fight. With the same guy.

Grabbing his friend, Sasha dragged him behind himself, away from Ismael and Monique who had once again kept quiet during bullytime. Eventually, the dragging didn’t have to be dragging as Nico pulled out of Sasha’s grasp and walked beside him. “Let’s get some freaking enchiladas.”

“I love you.”

Laughing, Nico stopped to pose with a hand on his hip and he gestured up and down his body. “Bestie, who the hell wouldn’t it?”

“Sadly? Not Ismael. He looked-”

“Nicolas! Wait up!”

“…pissed”

“Not pissed enough apparently,” Nico whispered quickly as they paused and waited for Ismael to catch up. Not long ago, Ismael was just a crush from afar for Nico and now he was in their faces literally twenty-four seven. Sasha liked the way it had been way better than it was now. “What?”

Glancing at Sasha as he came up to them, Ismael said “Do you mind?”

“The bestie stays,” Nico notified before Sasha even had the chance to spit his retort. “What do you want? Leslie is probably already waiting for me and my enchiladas are slowly dying. Make it quick.”

Maybe…Ismael had issues with his sexuality? If Nico was right and there was that ten percent of gayness…maybe Ismael just wasn’t comfortable with it? Or just not comfortable with it outside of being alone with Nico? Sasha had no idea what the supposed pass at Nico had been but it definitely hadn’t been done in front of him. No way would he have missed something like that.

Every ounce of his frustration showed on his face as he huffed “Fucking forget it. Just…fuck.” Walking off, they could just barely make out Ismael saying “Fuck, man, fuck.”

“The dude is like fucking emotionally crippled or something,” Sasha laughed as he shook his head. “He does not know how to express his thoughts.”

Nico was still staring after Ismael, a curious expression on his face. “Yeah…” Shaking his head to clear it, Nico said “I’ll catch you in class, I guess. You still have to finish telling me about Barbie Bitch.”

“Barbie Bitch, huh?” Sasha laughed after his friend who waved a goodbye as he went to go find a place for him and Leslie to eat some enchiladas. Sasha was only mildly jealous and that was because Leslie’s mom really did make bombass enchiladas. The woman could cook anything.

Spinning on his heels and thinking he’d go find his other friends to have someone to sit with, Sasha practically ran over Monique who was coming up behind him. “Hey, so…lunch?”

Blinking, Sasha shrugged and decided to go for it. Ismael was otherwise occupied and Nico was with Leslie so…why not? Maybe she really did just want to eat with him? “Yeah, sure.” He nodded over to an empty bench. “After you.”

With such a bright smile that Sasha was actually entertaining the thought that she just might actually like him, Monique bounced off with Sasha in tow. Plopping herself down with Sasha sitting opposite to her, she began to take out her lunch. “Hey, so, you doing anything after school today?”

The question was a weird one. Did she want to hang out with him? Like, for real? Sasha opened his juice as he thought about this foreign concept. He had friends, the obvious being Nico, and he’d always been an easy going friendly sort of guy, but girls never gave him attention. It’d more or less ruined his self image over the years, especially when every single girl would smile for Nic even if they didn’t even know him. Sasha was just too…ew for girls to find him attractive.

So what was Monique’s angle here? She was beyond gorgeous so it didn’t make any sense why she would waste her time with someone like him. Should he call her out on it or…just play this fantasy out a bit? Get a feel for what it felt like to be wanted?

Yeah, he could do that. For sure.

“Uh, me and Nic were going to play basketball but we do that all the time. Did…you want to do something?” Please, God, just once let a girl say yes to him. Please, please, please.

Crunching a Cheeto, Monique replied “I have cheerleading practice today after school. I was wondering if you wanna watch? I’m really good.”

Watch her flip and dance and stuff? Yeah, Sasha could totally get behind that. “I’d love to.”

Her face visibly brightened and Sasha had never felt so good in his life. Fuck yeah, Monique just might like him. He wasn’t too ugly for her. “Great! It’s a short practice today, only an hour. You don’t have to sit the whole time but I’d really like it if you did.”

Oh, he was so fucking sitting that whole hour. Chewing and making sure that he fully swallowed his handful of Cheeze-Itz before asking carefully “After, if you want, we…could get something to eat? Or drinks of some sort?” If he was reading these signs wrong, this would end up being totally embarrassing.

He must be doing something right because her face brightened even more, her eyes sparkled, and her big beautiful mouth made the biggest most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. “I’d love to! You ever had sweet crepes from Angelina’s Café over on-”

“Avenue A, right before 3rd Street,” Sasha finished with a laugh. His grandmother _loved_ Angelina’s café and to be completely honest, the head chef and owner loved his grandmother. Sasha was sure that he’d be able to get them some type of specials or something if they went there. That’d impress Monique, right? Girls liked that stuff? “I’ve had them. They’re bomb.”

“Right?” Suddenly looking concerned, Monique said “Hey, if you want, you can tell Nicolas to come. I feel bad that I just ruined your guys’ plans.”

“We do basketball all the time,” he shrugged. Nico would mope and complain and whatever but he’d be doing it just to be annoying. His friend would love for Sasha and Monique to work out. He was rooting for them apparently. “He won’t mind.”


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy, my silent readers
> 
> _“Have…you noticed how everyone is staring at us?”_

“I told her you wouldn’t mind and yet here you are sticking to me like glue,” Sasha snorted as he and Nico sat on the gym bleachers. Monique looked _really_ good in her outfit. Wow. They weren’t in their typical cheer outfits, just what he figured were their ‘practice’ clothes but still. Jesus. “No offense, I love you big time, but I seriously want to take her out alone.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nico snorted with a vicious eyeroll. “Don’t worry, I’m not sticking around. I’ve got a date of my own anyways. Chill, babe.”

“It’s not a da- wait, what?”

Sighing and looking dejected, Nico muttered “I’m stuck with Ismael while you’re getting totally hot with Monique. She looks like she tastes like cherries. Lemme know.”

Turning to look at Nic for the idiot that he was, Sasha stretched his legs out to the bench in front of them and leaned back on the one behind them. “Okay, couple things. One? Don’t act like you’d want to get hot with Monique. Two is that she and I are just getting crepes from Angelina’s, fucking chill. How are we supposed to broaden our horizons if we stick to each other like fleas on a dog?”

“Fleas on a dog.”

“It’s a good simile, shut up,” Sasha laughed. He paused a moment as he watched Monique do a few cartwheels across the gym. Flawless. “Three. Why the fuck are you thinking about her tasting like cherries?”

“Her lipstick. I love that shade. I want to taste like cherries.”

“What?”

Nico shook his head as he looked out at the girls practicing and sighed “Nothing.”

Sasha was missing something here but he didn’t feel up to digging right now. “Why are you stuck with Ismael anyways? W.T.F, dude.”

That earned him a smile as Nico snorted in amusement and turned to look at him, his dimples coming out to play. “Only I can say abbreviations. I sound cooler doing it.”

“Gayer, maybe.”

“Ass,” Nico laughed, slipping off his seat and falling between the tiny foot space between benches. He was pretty much folded in half with his legs raised over the bench in front of them and his ass stuck on the floor. Laughing even harder with Sasha joining him in the laughter, Nico snorted “I-I’m stuck!”

He was so going to let him suffer down there. “That’s what you get for being a twig, loser. And for sitting on the edge of your seat.” Nico tried to punch him but missed completely. “Loooooserrrrr.” He laughed all the more harder as he watched Nico try to push himself up but fail. Damn, he really was stuck. Or just needed some serious yanking. “Dude, it’s your ass. Too plump and round. Must be all those squats you’ve been doing.”

Looking like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to be offended or laugh, Nico just settled for extremely red. “Don’t make fun of my butt. Until I’m old enough for injections – which, mind you, you’ll fund – I must squat for life.”

“Even over the toilet, huh?”

“Damn straight,” Nico agreed. They were both laughing so hard and so loud, completely forgetting that they weren’t alone.

Up until they got yelled at.

“HEY!”

They both jumped and turned to look at a very furious looking woman. Ms. Maxie, rumor had it, was one tough tough tough cookie. That was probably why her cheerleaders were some of the best. With her hands on her hips and face looking entirely fierce and terrifying, she snapped “Who are you two idiots?”

Could they get in trouble after school? Sasha wasn’t positive but really didn’t feel like risking it. “Sash- Aleksandr Prokopenko, ma’am.”

“Nicolas Shvets,” Nico mumbled, his blush growing down his neck, “Ma’am.”

“Prokopenko and Sweats, what the hell is so funny that you’re both incredibly and rudely interrupting my girls’ practice?”

“Shvets,” Nico corrected in a loud voice. It was the one thing he’d always been bullied about. Other kids would laugh and ask him if he sweated a lot. “Not sweats.”

“Whatever your name is,” she said, still entirely frustrated. “Now tell me, _Shvets_ , what’s so funny and why is your ass between my bleachers?”

His friend was so red, Sasha wouldn’t be surprised if Nic blew up and splattered blood everywhere. “Um…I’m stuck.”

Everyone stared like he’d said the most ridiculous thing in the world and, yeah, if you hadn’t seen it happen, maybe. “Did you say that you’re stuck?” Ms. Maxie asked incredulously, crossing her arms tight.

“Um…yeah…but, um, Sasha, I mean, Aleksandr is gonna help me up so…”

Yeah, he should probably get to it. If he had known that they were going to get yelled, he would have dragged Nico’s ass up earlier. Prickly coach, that woman over there. Sheesh. At least Monique just looked amused and not pissed. As long as she didn’t hate them for this, it would be fine. “So should I like grab your hand or…under your pits maybe?”

“Don’t know,” Nico said quietly, “But just get me up before that woman viciously and brutally attacks me with her voice.”

“Sure thing.” Slipping his hands under his friend’s pits, Sasha pulled him up with marginal ease. Marginal because Nico squealed at the end which meant his back had probably been scraped. “Sorry.”

Blushing so red as he sat back down on the bench, Nico muttered “It’s okay. But she’s still glaring at us.”

Sasha turned to look at the cheerleading coach who was still very much glaring. “That she is. Should we…apologize maybe?”

“Shvets and Prokopenko! Get your asses down here. You think my girls don’t work hard enough that you have the nerve to interrupt?”

“Uh, no?”

“Get down here!”

On their feet in seconds, Sasha couldn’t help but smile at Monique when he noticed her laughing. Dear God, they were probably going to have to do cheer stuff.

Fuck. Sasha and his crooked shoulders were not made for that shit.

Once they made it down and stood before Ms. Maxie, he and Nico shared a nervous glance as the coach looked over them. She must have decided to start with Sasha first because she stood squarely in front of him, hands behind her back and a stern look on her face. “Hello, Prokopenko.”

“Uh…hi.”

“You do any sports, Prokopenko?”

“Basketball,” he replied as he copied her stance. “But not on a team.”

“Too challenging for you?”

There was a familiar snicker that Sasha did not like but he ignored it for the time being. Came to pick up his ‘date’ probably. Sasha really needed to get to the bottom of that. “Never bothered trying.”

“Mhm. Tell you what,” she began as she sized him up, her blue eyes fierce and challenging. “Pick up game, me and you. First to five points with each basket counting as one. You win? No afterschool detention tomorrow. I win? You get to train with the cheer squad for a week.”

Sasha blinked. “You’re joking.”

“Oh no, I’m very serious.” Ms. Maxie stuck out her hand for a shake, “Deal?”

Well, what other choice did he have exactly? “Will I get stuck in their outfits?”

Giggles and laughs echoed around the room. He even earned a smirk from the terrifying coach herself. “I hope you like booty shorts.”

“Oh dear God,” Sasha couldn’t help but laugh as he shook his head in disbelief. “Fuck my life, okay,” he accepted the hand, “Deal. I hope you like losing.”

This time, Sasha actually earned a smile. “I hope you’re not as good as you seem to think you are.” Taking a step to the side, she gave Nico the same examination. “No sports, huh.”

He turned and watched his friend turn pink in embarrassment. “I play basketball with Sa- Aleksandr but…yeah…”

Ms. Maxie looked entirely too happy by this revelation. “Well, then, you lose automatically!” Nico opened his mouth to say something but was cut off as Ms. Maxie called to one of her cheerleaders. “Cindy! Take Shvets here and get him outfitted! He’ll be joining us this week.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nico groaned as he covered his face. Sasha couldn’t help himself and so a laugh escaped him. His friend glared at him before he turned to Ms. Maxie. “Make sure you kick his ass. He’s going to look so horrible in those shorts that you’ll wish you never chose it as punishment.”

“At least she’s not putting you guys in the skirts,” Monique laughed so beautifully, that Sasha was officially dead now. So fucking dead. “Or even the tops.”

“You’re saying ‘you guys’ like I’m gonna lose,” Sasha snorted as he crossed his arms in defiance to this stupid assumption. He may not go out there for teams but he liked to think that he was damn good, thank you. “My ass is not made for booty shorts the way Nic’s is.”

Monique laughed because she was probably the only aware person who knew or could tell that Nico was gay, some girls glanced between him and where Nico had disappeared with the cheerleader, and others were staring at him disgustingly confused. “Are you guys, like, banging?” one girl with a bun that looked way too tight asked. Maybe that was why she was looking royally constipated and asking stupid questions. Because her bun was way too tight.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Sasha said as he broke into raucous laughter. He dared a glance over at Ismael who was leaning on the wall by the door to the gym, his bag slung on one shoulder. The dork’s face was deceptively blank but Sasha knew there was no way Ismael didn’t have an inner reaction. Looking at the crowd around him, he asked “You guys seriously think that?”

Monique shook her head in amusement as the girl shrugged and replied “You guys are super chummy.”

“I didn’t know people could be that fucking ass stupid.”

“Hey, hey,” Ms. Maxie said sternly, “Manners, Prokopenko.”

“Who’s stupid?”

Choking on his laughter as he watched an incredibly red Nico walk over in very tiny shorts. “You’re gorgeous.”

Deciding to own it instead of remaining embarrassed, Nico stuck out his tongue before striking his signature pose. He gestured up and down his body and said “No duh.”

“Totally works to flaunt that ass you’ve been working on.”

“Don’t be jealous,” Nico laughed. Everyone in the gym was looking between them like they were crazy or gross but they hardly cared. As if they’d let some stares ruin their friendship. “I look good, yeah, Monique?”

Those big beautiful lips formed a smile as she walked over to Nico and slung her arm in his. “Absolutely. Your ass fits right in.”

Turning on full sass Nicolas, he snapped his fingers and replied “Girl, my ass is better than half the ones here.”

 

 

“You guys known each other for a long time?” Monique asked as she took a bite off the sweet crepe stack that they were sharing. Extra sweet, extra fruits, extra everything.

On the fucking house.

“Since kindergarten,” Sasha replied after a sip of milk. Something this sweet had to have milk with it. “We’ve always stuck together. I was the funky looking kid and he was the tiny one and nobody wanted to play with us so we played with each other instead.”

“That’s really cute!” She paused to point her fork at him, “But you must have grown out of the funky stage, lemme tell you.”

He couldn’t help the huge smile that grew on his face or the light fluttering in his heart. Literally, all he could think about was that he just might be attractive. To Monique of all people. “Yeah?”

She laughed and nodded before taking another mouthful. “Yeah. And you’ve got awesome b-ball skills. Ms. Maxie is good but you’re better. However, you’d never beat me.”

Raising a brow at her smug face, Sasha said “You think you can beat me. At basketball.”

“Hell yeah.”

Leaning back and spreading his arms and hands out, he snorted “Challenge accepted, Monique. I’m not sorry in advance for when you lose.”

Challenge glittered in her gorgeous eyes as she relaxed into her seat and crossed her arms. “ _I’m_ not sorry in advance when _you_ lose. Tomorrow sound good? We can do it after cheer practice. You have two people you can watch now.”

Surprisingly, Nico was good at cartwheels and handstands. Not much else but, hey, that was better than anything Sasha could do. Thank God he had won the game against Ms. Maxie. He had only won by a point but that was plenty to save his sorry ass from booty shorts, thank the Lord. “God help him,” he couldn’t help but laugh.

After crepes with Monique, Sasha walked her home and then walked himself to his house. When he walked in, he was surprised to find his grandmother sitting in her favorite chair with her head down in her hands. “Baba?”

She didn’t move which only added more to his worry. Dropping his bag on the floor and slipping off his shoes, he walked over and sat down on the floor in front of her. “Baba?”

“Yes, Sasha.”

“You okay?” Obviously she wasn’t but it seemed like a good enough way to work into a conversation on why not. “Baba?” The plan had been to come home and brag all about how he had gotten to have dessert with Monique but that didn’t seem important as she raised her head dejectedly and he saw the tears in her eyes.

Baba _never_ cried.

“What’s wrong?”

Shaking her head and sighing, she picked up a paper that was beside her on the couch. “Viktor, my beautiful Sasha.”

Okay, that was hardly any sort of explanation. “Viktor?”

“Viktor,” she spit viciously. She waved the paper around harshly and stood, beginning an angry pace back and forth. “Who does he think he is?” Sasha knew from the way that she was tapping her chest and not looking at him that she was ranting to the world and herself. “ _I_ raised you. _I_ make sure that you are safe and happy and fed. _I_ take care of you!”

“Of course you do.” This was just stupid. Who else had been taking care of him all his life except his grandmother? “Baba, what’s going on?”

Coming to harsh stop with her eyes blazing, she waved the paper which was a wrinkled mess in her sometimes shaky hand. “He thinks he can do this? He thinks he will win, but I will not let him, Sasha.”

“Baba, win what?”

“He wants you! Thinks he can take you from me! That foolish boy!”

Sasha stared at his raging grandmother in confusion. Viktor wanted him? What did that mean? And what did she mean he wanted to take him from her? “Ba-”

“He wants to take custody, Sasha! Use your brain! He wants to take you away from me and ship you to Ukraine with him. He tells the courts I am unfit! Why? He should be flattered that I let you speak with him not to do this!”

Take him… Sasha sure as hell didn’t want that. Sure, he wanted to get to know the man who had fathered him but he sure as hell didn’t want to leave his grandmother. The woman who had raised him since birth. “But…I don’t want to. Why would he do that? Don’t I get a say?”

His grandmother took a steady breath before she walked over and carefully crouched in front of him. It had to hurt her knees but she didn’t seem to care. Taking his face in her hands, she said softly “Do not worry, Sasha. Baba will fix this. You and I, we are together for life.”

“No fucking duh.”

She chuckled and wiped a panicked stray tear off his face. “Nicolas’ tato, he is lawyer. He will fix this. He will fix this.”

He wasn’t sure if she was repeating it for his sake or her own.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> In honor of this story reaching 100 hits, TWO CHAPTERS  
> HUZZAH
> 
> I hope that's as nice of a gift as I think it is but I've no clue because no one ever says anything here so...enjoy anyways my dears
> 
> _“Homosexuals burn in hell. There’s man and woman."_

“I mean, he can’t just take you,” Nico said, trying to be helpful and positive and all the things Sasha couldn’t manage right now. “Think about it. He’s a complete stranger to you, a move like that could be stressful on you, and he’s already got a gazillion kids-”

“But he’s young, has a stable well paying job, kids for me to interact with, and didn’t just have a doctor’s appointment where they told her that she has diabetes. Not to mention that she already takes medicine for hypertension, and what if they find out that she had that silent heart attack? Or-”

“Stop.” Sitting up from where they were stretched out on his bed, Nico looked down at Sasha’s miserable form. “Your worrying too much. Things like this take a long time to work out and plus, my dad is very good at his job. He’ll figure it out.”

Curling to the side of the bed so he didn’t have to look at his friend or have him see the tears building in his eyes, Sasha replied quietly “I know that. But what if…”

“We’re not going to think about ‘ifs,’ okay?”

Sasha didn’t understand how he wasn’t supposed to think about the ‘ifs.’ They were all that were in his mind ever since finding out yesterday. He’d gone upstairs and cried and cursed Viktor to hell and back for trying to ruin his life and when he was competent enough to handle life again, he creeped down the stairs and listened as baba spoke to Nico’s father on the phone. Mr. Shvets was very good at his job but Viktor had a lot of money to throw around. Wasn’t it money that won cases?

He felt Nico rest his arms on his side as his friend hung his head upside down to look into Sasha’s face. “What are we not going to think about?”

Flicking his gaze into those eyes that Sasha was sometimes jealous of, he murmured “The ‘ifs.’”

“Exactly,” Nico nodded. It looked super weird because he was upside down. “Now, let’s think happy things. Did you find out if the lipstick tastes like cherries?”

Laughter broke through his depression, shaking Nic off of him. Sitting up as Nico stretched out, Sasha snorted “No, I didn’t. It was just dessert, man. No kisses or anything. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Well, were you smart and ate from her side so you’re indirectly tasting the goods?”

“No, no, I was not. Sorry, bae.” Taking a deep breath and pushing his dark thoughts to the side for the time being, he asked “Did you taste the goods you went out with?”

“Ha! Don’t be ridiculous,” Nico answered with a vicious eyeroll. “Ismael only likes me when I’m sleeping. Well, fake sleeping.”

Sasha had been told all about the groping. Nico said not to call it that, but really, there was no other way to put it, was there? It was plain and simple groping. And spooning. Damn, why did Sasha had to have been sleeping? He would have beat Ismael’s head in.

Or, at least, he would have tried to.

“Dare you to make a move and see what happens. I’ll kick his ass if he tries to hit you for it, promise.”

With a dazzling smile, Nico shook his head as he laughed. “I’m sorry, do you want me to die for a kiss? You be cray cray, babe. I’m so not risking my life for a kiss from a jackass.”

Look at him trying to act all macho and cool. “You mean the jackass who’s quite literally your wet dreams come to life?”

Blushing and shoving Sasha almost off the bed, causing Sasha to laugh, Nico muttered “Shuttup, Mr. ‘I Love Black Girls.’”

“I do love ‘em,” Sasha snorted as he bounced off the bed and quietly opened Nico’s door. “They’re so fucking sexy,” he added in a whisper as he tried to see if he could hear Mr. Shvets and baba talking. Nico stuck his head out under Sasha’s arm as they both squinted as if squinting their eyes had anything to do with hearing. As softly as possible, he whispered “I don’t hear anything.”

“Me neither. You think they’re done talking?” The sound of a cry came which shut them both up fast. The cries were quiet and soft and it killed Sasha to know that his grandmother was crying. “Well, I guess that answers that,” Nico whispered as they both backed up, Sasha shutting the door ever so silently so as to not disturb.

Walking back to Nico’s bed to throw himself on it as his friend dropped down into his giant fluffy saucer chair, Sasha mumbled into the blanket with his nose being squashed into the mattress “I wish I never wanted to talk to Viktor.”

“It was within your right to. How were we going to know that the man is an asshole?”

“Because he’s rich and has a Barbie as his wife.”

Nico laughed softly, enough to show that he was with Sasha but not overly where he was ignoring the misery sitting in the room with them, before he murmured “Damn that Barbie Bitch. But I bet you that she’s no happier, you know.”

“I kinda figure, yeah.”

“So…when’re you gonna ask Monique out?”

It was a horrible segue but Sasha appreciated the change in topic. Rolling over so that he was back on his side as he stared at his friend picking lint off his shirt, he replied “I think it’s a little too early for that, don’t you?”

“True,” Nico mused as he continued his lint picking. “You think I still have to show up to cheer practice even though we didn’t go to school?”

He had gotten up this morning to go but when he came downstairs ready to leave, baba had stopped him and said that they were going to Nico’s immediately. The sooner they worked this out, the better. “We’ve only missed half the day so far. We could go back during lunch. And me and Monique have that pick up game we gotta do.”

“Do know that if she really is better than you, I will laugh straight in your face and then compliment her immensely over and over again to piss you off.”

A knock came at the door before Nico’s mom stuck her head in. “Should I make you guys something for lunch? Anyone hungry?”

They shared a glance before Nico said “Actually, we were thinking of going to school?”

Mrs. Shvets looked surprised but smiled in relief like that’s what she had been hoping for. “I think that’s much better than being cooped up in here while we adults talk. Get your stuff ready and I’ll drop you both off.”

“We can walk, it’s okay,” Nico replied as he bounced out of the chair and went to his closet. “It’ll be good for us.”

“Alright, I’ll make you each a lunch to take with you then.”

When she shut the door and disappeared, Nico shucked off his jogging pants and pulled out his new white jeans. Dear Lord, Sasha bought this guy too many pairs of jeans. Sasha’s vice was shoes and it seemed like Nico’s was going to be jeans. “I’m sitting, you know.”

“Dude, we’ve seen each other a billion times. Don’t act all high and mighty on me now.”

Groaning as he got up to go wash up and fix his hair in the bathroom, Sasha snorted as he watched Nico wiggle into the pants “I told you to get a bigger size.”

His friend glared as he dropped into his chair and wiggled the pants up his legs. With a few harsher wiggles and tugs at his thighs, the pants slipped up his hips. Buttoning them, Nico said with triumph “Easy.”

“Yeah, okay,” he laughed as he walked out.

The walk to school had been good, checking in at the office had been easy, and reaching their lockers even though they both belatedly realized they had nothing to put in or take out had been a breeze. Everything was fine until they bothered to look around them a little harder.

Just that much harder.

“Have…you noticed how everyone is staring at us?” Nico whispered as they walked down the hall to go eat outside. Mrs. Shvets had made them each a deluxe peanut butter sandwich, complete with a side of Ruffles and a bottle of Powerade. Blue for him, red for Nico.

It was mild level spoiling but you sure as hell wouldn’t catch Sasha complaining.

“Actually…I have now.” His gaze caught with some guy he didn’t know who quickly turned away with a look of disgust. “Are we missing something?”

“We must be because…this is freaky. Like freaky freaky. I mean, look, there’s Ja-” Nico cut himself off with a squeak of surprise as someone grasped his wrist and dragged him with them, the person grabbing Sasha a second later almost like an afterthought. With another second later in the rush of whatever just happened, they found themselves in the bathroom with Ismael locking the door. Spinning around, he crossed his arms and glared.

When it seemed like he wasn’t going to talk, Sasha finally broke the silence. “So…”

Pointing between them, Ismael said angrily “You two told me you ain’t banging.”

Sharing a quick confused glance together, they replied at the same time “We’re not.”

“Then?”

Scratching his head in confusion and having one of those nice brows raised, Nico asked “Then what? I…don’t understand what’s going on here.”

“Me neither,” Sasha added.

“Why would you think we were lying? What part of ‘Sasha has a thing for black girls’ did you not get?”

Ismael’s gaze flicked between them, with him now looking as confused as they felt. “Then why is everyone saying that you guys said you’re together?”

That froze them into silence before they once more shared a look and broke into laughter. “You’re joking, right?” Sasha laughed, “Like, this is just some stupid prank because you’re bored?”

“No.”

Nico glanced over at Sasha as Sasha did him before returning his attention to Ismael. “It’s…not a joke?”

“No.”

“Um…”

“I’m so confused,” Sasha said as stared back at a pissed and just as confused Ismael, “Why would people say that?”

Shrugging and starting to look like he was questioning it himself, Ismael replied “All day, all people have been talking about is how you two admitted that you be banging. Like, literally, that’s the topic of the day, especially because you both weren’t here this morning and then show up during lunch together.”

This was just plain ridiculous. As if Sasha didn’t have enough bullshit to deal with right now. “We came together because I was at his house. We both didn’t show up because there’s a family emergency. And we never said that we’re together? When exactly did we say that?”

Ismael shrugged again. “I don’t know. That’s what people said. Said that they would’ve never guessed about you but they could smell the fag off Nicolas a mile away.”

Nico’s eyes went wide with hurt. “What?”

“Not that I said that!” Ismael corrected in a quick panic, waving his hands as if he could erase the words. “Not me. I’m just repeating what I’ve been hearing today. So I thought I’d just ask you guys to tell me the what the fuck is up, you know?”

The other boy’s words hardly tempered the pain in Nico’s eyes as he bit his lip and stared down at the floor. “The fag?”

“Hey, hey,” Sasha said disapprovingly, “Since when have you been ashamed of being gay? Nic-”

“I’ve never been called names for it though,” Nico whispered as he looked up into Sasha’s eyes, miles of hurt as far as the eye could see. “And…it hurts…a lot.”

“Those people are stupid ass nobodies, man. Don’t listen to word they say. Who cares what strangers have to say? You don’t need to care about their opinions. Your parents love you the way you are, I love you, baba loves you, Ismael loves you-”

“Love,” Ismael interrupted with a meek voice, “Love’s a strong word but, uh, don’t, uh, it don’t bug me none.” Sasha and Nico looked his way to find him blushing heavily. “It…doesn’t bother me. Just, just saying. Not, not love though. But like, definitely like.”

Turning back to his distressed friend, Sasha continued “The point is, the peoples’ opinions who matter already love you the way that you are. You don’t need to give a shit about some homophobic bastards, alright?”

Sasha thought that his speech was a pretty good one but Nico just looked even more troubled. “But they _do_ matter, Sasha. Because it affects how people treat me, how they talk to me. How am I supposed to…to walk around or whatever and everywhere I go now, people are going to whisper behind my back. Or worse, say things to my face because I bother them.”

“I won’t let anyone.”

“It’s not that simple!” Nico blew angrily. They didn’t yell at each other often, had only gotten into a few fights with each other over the years. “You don’t get it because you’re normal! You can go around and make out with Monique or whatever and everyone will be like ‘wow, look at the hot girl Sasha got!’ If they see me kissing a boy, it’ll be ‘hey! We should go jump those fucking fags and teach them a lesson!’ You can’t just reasonably expect to be able to be my fucking bodyguard!”

Okay, so Nico was incredibly upset right now. But Sasha had no idea what to do because he didn’t know how to handle a situation like this. He wasn’t trained for handling something like this. “I…” Nico crossed his arms in challenge, like he knew he was winning. “I…I can’t be everywhere, no, but that won’t stop me from trying. No, it’s not fair that you have to worry about people because they can’t accept you but…”

“I swear to God, if you fucking say life isn’t fair, I’ll have Ismael shove your head in a toilet.”

Smiling despite the threat, Sasha sighed “But I love you as you are. And I’m not a fighter by any means but I’d still try if it meant keeping mean people away from you.”

The anger faded and left the pain and sadness in its wake. Blinking harshly, probably trying to stop the tears from forming, Nico muttered “We should have never come to school today.”

Yanking Nic into a tight hug, Sasha snorted “You would have missed cheer practice.”

“Very funny.”

“Hey, I thought you were made for those shorts. Lemme tell you, man, Ismael was mesmerized by your ass in those shorts.”

“I hated those shorts,” Ismael muttered grudgingly, not even realizing what he was saying as he looked lost in his head while biting a nail, “They’re too fucking tiny. Like, everyone can see everything they shouldn’t be. No one told them that they could fucking look.”

Sasha and Nico separated as they shared a glance then looked over at Ismael still focused on his nail. Did he realize how he sounded? “Dare you,” Sasha whispered to Nico, not even the whisper catching Ismael’s attention from how much he seemed to have hated the shorts.

“How about a hug?”

“Go for it.”

That hangnail must be a bitch because Ismael was so caught up in trying to bite it off that he nearly jumped when Nico’s arms wrapped around his waist, his head on his chest. “Thank you for being the only apparently decent person besides Sasha. And hopefully Monique is too because then Sasha’s going to be totally disappointed.”

“Damn straight,” he agreed as he felt a smile grow on his face while watching Ismael stare at Nico with wide eyes and arms up like he was afraid to touch. When their gazes caught, Sasha nodded towards Nico and said “You should hug back.”

Ismael’s eyes stayed as wide as could be but he slowly nodded like he appreciated the instruction before lowering his arms and softly wrapping them around Nico. He was stiff and wasn’t exactly doing a proper hug but good enough. Nico squeezed harder, Sasha knew, to be an ass and repeated “Thank you.”

A reluctant softness overcame Ismael’s features as he gazed down at Nic in his arms before he hugged just a little tighter and whispered in Nic’s ear “Your welcome.”


	12. Chapter 11

Sasha watched as Nico gnawed at his lower lip as they stepped out to go eat outside. They’d thought of just eating inside – Nico wanting the bathroom but Sasha threw that idea out because ew – but then they’d just be surrounded in a small space by assholes. At least outside, there was a breath of air. Grabbing his friend’s arm, he pulled him over to a bench way in the corner of the field and sat them down. “See? No eyes to stare.”

Reluctantly taking a seat, Nico pulled out his lunch and set it on the tabletop. “They’ll probably just say we sat here so we could make out.”

“Bae, I’m supposed to be the bitter angry one, not you.” Sasha unwrapped his deluxe sandwich and ripped it in half before taking a bite. “Don’t worry; we’ll be fine.”

“ _You’ll_ be fine,” Nico snorted in contempt at the entire homophobic world as he angrily unscrewed his Powerade. “Because you’re not actually gay. Monique will clear everything up for you and you’ll be just dandy while I’ll be the subject of ridicule for my high school career. Just because there’s less than a month left of school, doesn’t mean anything.”

No, it didn’t being that they weren’t switching schools. Eighth grade was put in the same building as high school. It’d be the same campus, same students, and the same bullshit. “It’s going to be fiiine. I’ll make sure of it.”

With a sad sigh and a crunch of a chip, Nic murmured while staring down at his sandwich “I hope so. I can literally feel their homophobia in the air, Sasha. The _air_. How am I supposed to breath this?”

“Hey guys!” Monique called as she bounded over, swinging her lunch bag along as she did. Coming to a stop at the head of the bench, she smiled at them and asked “Can I sit?”

Sasha scooted for her and patted the bench. “’Course. You ready to lose today?”

Grinning in a such a beautifully excited way, Monique laughed as she unzipped her bag “Oh, puhlease. I’m theee basketball queen, Sasha. I’ll kick your ass.” Looking to Nic right before she popped a M&M in her mouth, she said “What do you think? I’ll totally kick his ass, huh?”

Nico gave her a weak smile, still lost in his misery. “I hope so. Put him in his place. He needs it once in a while.” He turned and looked out when he heard his name, Leslie dashing over. “Hey, Leslie,” Nico said once she reached them. “How are you?”

Honestly, she looked like a mess. Not in her dress because she was as put together as she always was but her face looked distraught. She must have heard the words going around. “Um, I’m good. Um, Nico? I-I heard something and I was just…” Crossing her arms protectively around herself, she said with such a red flustered face “People are saying that-that you’re like,” she leaned in closely like she was embarrassed to say it aloud and whispered “a homosexual.”

Huffing and shaking his head, Nico rubbed his face harshly before facing Leslie, looking more pissed than Sasha had ever seen. “Gay. I’m gay. You can say it out loud.”

Leslie looked taken a back, suddenly leaning away with wide wide eyes. Sasha wasn’t sure if she was more shocked by the admission or that Nico was angry with her. “B-But you can’t! That’s a sin! God doesn’t like homo-”

“Shut up, Les,” Sasha interrupted harshly. Nic had enough shit on his head right now, not to be worrying about God of all things. “Just shut it, please.”

Her eyes flicked between them like she didn’t know who they were after all these years. Focusing on Nico, she repeated “Homosexuals burn in hell. There’s man and woman, not-”

“Leslie, shut up!” Sasha shouted, standing to his feet and his fists clenched tight against the tabletop. “Does he look like he needs to hear your religious bullshit right now? Fuck off!”

When tears built up in her eyes, he felt bad because she’d always been nice to them. But how was he just supposed to let her spout that shit atop Nico’s head? With every word she had said, Nico’s face had gone darker and darker, the pain growing in his eyes. What kind of fucking bodyguard would he be if he just let Leslie preach? A shitty one, fucking duh. “Sorry,” she whispered, on the verge of crying before she ran off, probably very much crying as she did.

“Fuck,” Sasha groaned as he sat back down, dropping his head into his hands. “I feel like the biggest asshole now. Dammit. Why’d she have to cry? Fuck.”

“Maybe…because you yelled out her?” Monique said in such a know it all voice that Sasha was tempted to see if he could make her go away too. “You didn’t have to yell.”

“Oh?” Sasha snorted sarcastically as he turned to look at the beautiful girl beside him. “And how would you have handled that?”

“Just stop, guys,” Nico mumbled miserably as he pushed his chips around, “It’s not worth fighting about. Just…apologize later. She’ll get over it.” They all looked to the side as a voice called Nico’s name. Great, more assholes. “I don’t think I can handle this, Sasha.”

Then they wouldn’t. “Pack your stuff,” Sasha murmured as he cleaned up his stuff. “We’ll go to the office and tell your mom to come get us. We don’t need this bullshit.” Nico nodded quickly and started to shove his stuff, not even caring that he just shoved an unwrapped sandwich into his bag. Glancing at Monique, Sasha said “We’ll have to reschedule.”

“Yeah, okay,” she nodded as she watched them zip up and stand to go. Their company had reached the table and she smiled to them. Cheerleaders knew everyone, didn’t they? Or at least fellow cheerleaders and jocks. “Hey.”

A boy Sasha didn’t know smiled and gave a nod of greeting but turned his focus to Nico. “You Nicolas, right?”

Nico was practically pale and said nothing. Sasha didn’t want him too anyways as he walked around to his friend’s side of the bench and grasped his arm securely. “He is, thanks for your curiosity, and goodbye.”

“Yo, hold up!” the boy called as Sasha dragged Nico with him so they could go to the office. “Yo, faggots! I’m fucking talking to your queer asses!”

“Ignore,” Sasha said quickly as he pulled them through the building’s doors, pushing past everyone and not caring who’s toes he stepped on. “Don’t listen to him.”

“I don’t think I can do this.”

Yanking open the office door with so much force that Sasha was surprised he didn’t rip it off, he pulled them in and sat Nico down on a chair. Softly grasping his shoulders, Sasha replied “I’ll do it for both of us. You just sit and relax, alright?” Nico nodded hurriedly, his eyes wide with worry. “Alright. Good.”

It didn’t take long for Nico’s mother to arrive and sign them both out. Hugging Nico close as they walked down the hall with, thankfully, everyone in classes, she asked softly “Bad day?”

Pressing himself into her side, Nico said quietly “You could say that.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, no. Thanks though.”

“Nicolas!”

“I’m sick of hearing my name today,” he muttered as they paused and waited for Ismael to catch up. “What.”

Ismael glanced between them all, the bathroom pass wrapped around his wrist. Some lucky timing, this guy. “You leaving? You guys just got here.”

Nico was about to answer but Mrs. Shvets got there first. Her head was tilted as she looked over Ismael with narrowed eyes. It didn’t occur to Sasha until she spoke that she remembered him. “Aren’t you the one who beat up my son?”

Eyes going guiltily wide, Ismael blushed and scratched behind his ear. “Uh…we…we worked out our differences. Uh, ma’am.”

“Uhuh.”

“It’s fine, mom,” Nico sighed tiredly, still lost in her side. “What do you want.”

“You’re leaving.”

“Yes. Obviously.”

Looking troubled by this revelation, Ismael asked “But…you’ll be back tomorrow, right?”

“No.”

Sasha could tell that Mrs. Shvets was troubled by this, her lack of information on what was wrong now bugging her. But she said nothing and Sasha knew that she wouldn’t until they got to Nico’s house. Or at least the car. Ismael looked as troubled as she did, his forehead and brows scrunched with his troubled thoughts. “Oh…”

“Anything else?”

Shaking his head slowly, Ismael said nothing before they walked out of school and to the car. Once they were buckled and ready, Mrs. Shvets drove off and said carefully “Is everything okay, guys? Trouble at school today?” Was he supposed to answer that or was Nico? It affected his friend more than it did him so…maybe it wasn’t his place to talk until Nic wanted to. When no one said anything, she asked “Guys? What’s wrong?”

“Everyone found out that I’m gay,” Nico whispered as he watched the street they drove by, his head resting against the window. “Let’s just say that our school doesn’t have the friendliest bunch of people in it.”

Sasha watched from the backseat as Mrs. Shvets clenched the steering wheel tightly. “Are people giving you problems? I can talk to the-”

“I’ll deal with it. I don’t want you to talk to anyone.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

She tapped her fingers on the wheel as they turned onto Nico’s street, parking in front of the building they lived in. “Is that boy giving you problems?”

“Ismael? No, he’s nicer than everyone else. Nicer than Leslie even.”

His guilt came flooding back to the surface at making her cry. “Remind me to apologize later,” Sasha muttered as they got out of the car and walked up the stoop of the building. Mrs. Shvets was ready to ask more questions, he could tell, so Sasha turned the conversation away. “Baba still here?”

“She was about to leave when you called so she said she’ll sit until you get here.”

Nervousness and curiosity boiled in his stomach as they went up the stairs. God, he hoped her and Mr. Shvets were able to figure out something. Just because he’d wanted to speak to Viktor and get to know him – something well within his right – Sasha didn’t want to fucking upend his life for a dad he didn’t know.

Who the fuck did Viktor think he was, exactly?

  

* * *

 

“Open,” Nico sighed into his pillow which he had his face smashed into, figuring Sasha had finally shown up after his game with Monique. Nico had told his friend to just go to school today and not worry about him but Sasha had said for Nico not to be an idiot. They’d spent the ‘school day’ time together before Sasha said he had to go beat Monique in basketball. He’d told Nicolas to come along but he definitely was not feeling leaving this room.

He just felt like a puddle of shit right now.

“Did she or you win,” he mumbled, refusing to remove his face from its torture. He felt the bed dip as Sasha sat down beside him. Sighing and turning his head, he blinked in surprise at the person staring at him. “You are not Sasha.”

“No offense,” Ismael snorted, “But I wouldn’t want to be him. Besides for maybe his money. Actually, definitely for his money.”

Proper etiquette told him to sit his ass up but Nico was so not in the mood for properness so he remained on his stomach and wrapped his arms around the pillow under his head. “Sasha’s the awesomest person I know.”

“He seems alright,” Ismael shrugged with one shoulder. “But I’m better looking.”

He was not going to drag his bestie by agreeing with that. “How’d you even get my address?”

Smirking in some sort of triumph, Ismael replied “I hung with Monique and she said she and Sasha got a game or some shit so I waited for him to show up then bugged the fuck out of him.”

Damn, Sasha must be pissed right now. He was so going to lose to Monique then; playing angry got no one nowhere. “Why?”

Face looking nervous with the slightest pink touching his cheeks, Ismael said softly as he looked everywhere but Nico “I…wanted to see how you’re doing, I guess.”

Despite Ismael having beat him up, Nicolas’ heart fluttered in excitement and flattery. He wanted to check on him? God, that was cute. “Thank you,” he couldn’t help but smile, “That’s really nice of you.” Blushing harder and staring down at his fingers, Ismael shrugged. Deciding to push harder, Nico scooted closer to the wall and patted the space beside him. He said nothing but they both knew what the invitation was.

Ismael looked flustered as his eyes went from the spot to Nico, Nico to the spot before he said “I-I, uh, I…uh…” Eyes flashing in determination which was cute because it was just getting closer, for God’s sake, Ismael muttered “Fuck it,” before he dropped down beside Nicolas, their heads sharing the pillow.

Their eyes searched one another before Nico scooted just a touch closer, leaving very little space between them. “Your eyes are so pretty.”

Ismael flinched back before biting his lip hard and scooting back closer. With that blush that Nico was coming to adore, he said “They’re just boring brown. Not…N-Not pretty and blue like yours. Y-Your eyes are the pretty ones.”

With a fluttering heart and his own blush, Nicolas smiled and said “Thank you. How was school? People still making fun of the fag?” Just from the way his eyes darkened, Nico knew that he was still, and probably would be until the end of the semester, the big talk and joke. “Yeah, I thought so.”

“Don’t fucking listen to them, man,” Ismael said with such anger that Nico was actually surprised. He sounded as pissed as Sasha did about them. “You’re not their business and they can keep their bullshit opinions to themselves.” His anger must have given him confidence because Ismael scooted closer to the point where their noses were touching and wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist. “They’re _fucking_ idiots. No one gives a fuck what they say and you shouldn’t either.”

He kind of dug this whole cuddling thing now that he was properly awake and getting to decide about it. It was pushing it but right now, Nicolas was enjoying the comfort too much to care as he curled himself into Ismael, setting his head on his hard chest. “I wish it were that easy.” He started coughing when Ismael practically squashed him in a hug. “Can’t breathe.”

“Look at me.” Wow, demanding. He should have expected that really. Tilting his head up to look at Ismael, Nico waited to see what he had to say. “Fuck. Them. Simple. They’re fuckers who don’t deserve your time of day.”

“Only you, huh?” he couldn’t help but tease with a laugh.

It was a joke, it really was, so when Ismael’s eyes turned hard and said “Exactly,” it threw Nico off completely. “Me and…I can fucking make room for Sasha once in a while, I guess.”

“Once in a while.” Bestie’s came first to not-boyfriend’s. Duh.

But Ismael nodded like it made complete sense. “Yeah. I come first.”

Nicolas blinked in surprise at the boy whose arms he was in. That was…uh…wow… “And why would that be?”

“Because,” Ismael breathed softly as he titled Nico’s head up with a finger under his chin, “you’re mine.”

“That’s rather-” Nico began before he was completely cut off with a pair of sexy lips on his. Okay, honesty time, Nico had no idea how to kiss. This was going to suck on his end.

Ismael must have agreed with the unspoken words because he pulled away with a frown. “You’re…supposed to kiss back.”

He blinked back with wide as and tingling lips. “I’ve no idea how to do that.”

A smirk lit the other boy’s face as he shook his head and pulled Nico flush against him. “Well, then, it’s time for some practice.”


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy my peeps
> 
> _“It’s called being friendly and loving and brotherly.”_

“So what happens now?” Sasha asked his grandmother as they prepared dinner together. Her mood had only gotten worse the past couple days, especially with finding out that people were bothering Nico at school. Him and Nic were hoping that after the weekend, people would have moved on enough for them to go back to school tomorrow. They’d missed three days of work and they really didn’t want to miss more.

“I get into contact with the mafia and have them take him out,” baba snorted, turning on the stove under the pan that was going to make them delicious potatoes. Scary thing was that she sounded totally serious right now.

Peeling the last potato, Sasha laughed “Can we afford to contract a hit? Plus, we don’t have anyone to contact in Ukraine. We’ll have to ask someone here and that’ll probably cost even more.”

Looking like she was seriously considering what he was saying, baba nodded in thought as she seasoned chunks of meat. “I do not like the Italians, we’ll have to find someone else. They are too…Italian. Good for nothing show offs. There is Russians but…never trust a Russian, Sasha. Never, love, never.”

“Noted,” he snorted as he shook his head. Never trust a Russian. Note taken. “But if we rule out the Italians _and_ the Russians, who’s left? I think there’s a Chinese group or something, isn’t there? Over around Chinatown?”

Baba looked at him disapprovingly. “We do not ask such personal thing of strangers. No, no.” Cutting up some onions and dropping them into the pan after a spoon of oil, baba added “We need people who understand us. Easterners like ourselves at the very least if not Ukrainian.”

“Is there a Ukrainian mafia around here? Can’t say I’ve heard about one. What about, like…a Hispanic group? Dominicans or something.” Sasha was pretty sure there was a gang over in the Bronx area. “There’s a lot of smaller gangs around though I don’t know if they do overseas contract killing.” Look at them just talking about having Viktor killed. Jesus.

“Aye, Sasha, I thought I’ve taught you better. We do not work with outsiders! Especially not gangs.”

“Well, what’s the difference between a gang and a mafia? And our hypothetical options are limited so it’s going to have to be a stranger doing the job, baba.”

She shook her head in disappointment and muttered something in Ukrainian. Shoot him, he did not have a grasp on his native language. It was fucking hard, alright? He and Nico knew _some_ words and they were quite proud of themselves for that. “Gangs are trashy, Sasha. They are petty and street low. Mafia is organized with connections everywhere. They’re like family and run themselves as such. They have honor code. Gangs are small time. And petty, petty, Sasha.”

He wasn’t quite sure if her definitions were entirely correct but Sasha let her have them. “Fine, no gangs. No triads. No Russians and no Italians. We’re out of options, baba.”

“Then we check out Jersey-”

“Ewwwww, no, baba,” Sasha interrupted with a laugh. “Not the trash across the river! I thought I taught you better!” He laughed when she slapped his arm. “Anything but Jersey trash, baba. I’m telling you, they’re probably as trashy as the gangs you hate so much. Plus, we all know Jersey people are just wannabes who wish they were born here.”

By the time he finished his speech, she was laughing whole-heartedly as she began cooking the beef. “Hurry up and finish those potatoes, slow boy. You and Nicolas ready for school tomorrow?”

Diverting from the original question, was she? That didn’t bode well. What if her chances of keeping him weren’t looking good and she was trying to make him not worry by not telling him anything? He’d much prefer knowing to being left in the dark. “I’ve always been ready. I’m just waiting on Nic. I’m not leaving him to suffer alone.” After talking with Monique, Sasha was convinced that it was the jokes that he and Nico had made at her cheer practice that had made people start talking. “I told him I’m not going to let anyone talk shit but he says that I can’t be everywhere.”

“No, you can’t,” baba replied, “But I know that you will try your best. That’s very good of you. Keep an eye on him now, Sasha.”

“No duh. As if I’d let anyone talk their stupid bullshit to him.”

“And when are you going to invite your pretty girl over for lunch?”

Blushing furiously, Sasha cut up the last of the potatoes as he tried to think of his answer. “I don’t want to rush,” he said slowly, “Maybe she just wants to be friends.”

“She likes you very much.”

“You haven’t even seen us together, baba,” Sasha snorted as he rolled his eyes and slid the potatoes into the pan off the cutting board. “You can’t just make that kind of assumption.”

“I take Nico’s word for it.”

Uh, that ass. Always talking Sasha’s business. Well, two could play at that game. “Oh yeah? Well why don’t you ask Nico when he gets here why he hasn’t asked out that pretty boy of his, okay? Then let’s see what he has to say.”

Looking incredibly interested, baba paused her mixing of a yogurt salad. “Oh? Nicolas has pretty boy?”

“Well,” Sasha couldn’t help but laugh, “I think it’s more that Nic is the pretty boy in the non-existent relationship.”

“Aye, Sasha, tell me it is not boy who came for movies.”

“Boy who came for movies.”

“Aye no…”

Yeah, honestly, Sasha wasn’t too happy either after hearing about the make out sesh that Nico excitedly blabbered on about. He’d never regretted giving out an address more in his entire life. Nico had looked like he’d died and come back to life as he told _every single detail_.

Sasha did not need to know every miniscule detail of Ismael’s kissing technique which was apparently stunning.

He’d told Nico the truth because that’s what they always did with each other. Sasha felt that Ismael wouldn’t be good boyfriend material; especially for a first boyfriend when Nico needed to learn how to find his footing in a relationship. Ismael was…pushy. Controlling a little too much maybe. A jealous ass. Possibly possessive though they’d have to wait and see for that one.

Nico had just, of course, laughed and said that he knew that Sasha would look out for him. No worries.

Well, Sasha was worried already.

“I do not want him with this boy.”

“I’ll keep my eye on him, baba, no worries.” She didn’t need to know what he thought about Ismael. His grandmother said nothing, simply shook her head and put the salad in the fridge until they were ready for it. “So…what happens with the case?”

“I told you.”

“No, you jokingly tried to divert me by planning Viktor’s death. What really happens?”

He watched her jaw clench as she cut their homemade pickles in half with more force than was necessary. “I’m working on it.”

 

 

“What the hell does that even mean?” Nico asked with a brow raised high. “’I’m working on it.’ I tried asking my dad but he told me not to worry.”

Tapping his pencil on his planner because they were supposed to be filling in what the week’s work was, Sasha murmured “Why do you think they won’t tell us anything?”

“They don’t want us to worry but, honestly, it just makes me more worried when they get all diverty.”

“Me too,” Sasha sighed as he scribbled in ‘ _finish book report.’_ “Did you ever wonder why we were given a book report literally the last few weeks of school.”

Nico laughed as he finished filling out his planner before dumping it in his bag. “Every time I try to write the stupid thing. God, I need to get that thing finished. Leslie had said she’ll help me out when it first got assigned. I’ll see if maybe she’s not busy after school.”

Sasha didn’t want to be the bastard here but he asked “Uh…have you seen her since…”

His friend’s face darkened as he shook his head. Biting his nail and looking troubled, he said “You…think she won’t talk to me anymore?”

“She…kind of condemned you to hell and damnation, Nic.”

Eyes turning frustratingly hard, Nico picked up his pencil and tapped it against the desk with the need to do something before huffing “Well, I don’t need her anyways. I got my English nerd beside me.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sasha laughed as the bell finally rang for them to go. “Lunch in or out?”

Sighing, Nico answered “I guess out. Do you find it weird that Ismael hasn’t talked to me today?” That was one hell of a jump of subjects. And…not as weird as Nico was thinking. “I mean, Monique literally waited in front of school until you got here just to say hi.”

Grabbing his friend’s arm to keep him close as they walked through the hall, ignoring all the looks they received, Sasha replied “I’m going to say this in the nicest way possible.”

“Oh boy.”

“He either had a straight boy freakout for kissing you or he’s too embarrassed to be seen with you. Would ruin his ‘reputation.’”

“Oh…yeah…fair point. But, like…I wouldn’t want him to have the stigma attached. I already deal with it and I wouldn’t want him to have to go through it, you know? I don’t mind-” He stopped speaking as Sasha suddenly turned around and firmly grasped his shoulders. “What?”

“Don’t drag yourself for him. Stigma, my ass. He’s fucking lucky that you would even consider giving him time. If he actually likes you then he better fucking own up to it and show it everywhere. Not just when eyes and doors are closed.”

Looking troubled, Nico said “I wouldn’t want to make things hard-”

“Nico,” Sasha said firmly, grasping his friend’s chin on focusing his face on him, “You are worth every trouble and difficulty and whatever. You deserve a guy who’s willing to face the challenges with you. Got it?”

“Aw, look they’re gonna kiss!”

Flinching out of Sasha’s grasp, Nico’s eyes went wide with panic and pain. Sasha turned to glare at whoever spoke, some asshole in a red shirt and snapped “Jealous?”

“Fuck you, fag.”

“Nic,” Sasha said, an idea forming in his head that was literally created just to piss this homophobic bastard off, “I think I’m going to kiss you.”

“Whoa, whoa, bestie,” Nico couldn’t help but laugh as he shook his head in disbelief. “And what exactly would that achieve?”

“It’ll piss some people off and I feel like pissing people off.”

“Huh…petty Sasha coming into play, is he?”

“Possibly.”

His friend looked like he was considering it for a second before he shrugged. “Your hardly Latino but a peck won’t kill our friendship,” he snorted in amusement, a smile gracing his face. “Peck me, bae.”

Laughing and shaking his head, Sasha looked to make sure that they were still being glared at – they were with more glares joining, along with getting some curious glances – before taking his bestie’s chin in hand and pulling him up while he leaned down. He pressed a quick peck on Nico’s lips before pulling away with a laugh, turning to flip off the crowd. “Delicious. Don’t taste like cherries though.”

Breaking into raucous laughs at the inside joke, Nico looped his arm into Sasha’s as they walked away to go eat lunch. “Next time, kiss Monique, then me so I indirectly taste of cherries.”

“Ew,” Sasha snorted through his laughs as they sat down. “Trying to contract Mono?”

“Are you diseased?”

“If I am, it’s from you and Ismael because I’ve never kissed anyone before you.”

“Rude. And just so you know, I’m honored to be your first.”

With only one class left, the school day had gone better than either of them had expected it too. Yeah, people still glared and obviously talked shit, especially after their stunt, but for the time being, it didn’t bother them. Maybe it was because Nico was still drunk off Ismael or Sasha off Monique after she had accepted his lunch invitation. Or maybe they were both too busy using their worrying about Sasha’s custody case.

Yeah, it was fine until Ismael slammed him into a wall in the empty hall.

Rubbing his head after its brutal introduction to the wall, Sasha blinked in confusion at Ismael who looked like he was ready to break Sasha’s entire being. “Ouch.” His eyes caught on the bathroom pass. How exactly had Ismael needed to go at the same time Sasha had? No way-

“I saw you pass in the door window,” Ismael snorted, catching Sasha’s eyes staring at the pass.

Still rubbing his head and squinting from the pain because that was just one of the weird things bodies did when it came to head pain, Sasha said “And…?”

“Bathroom.”

Sasha wanted to point out that that was where he had been trying to get to before being rudely intercepted but he didn’t want to piss off a seemingly already pissed off Ismael as he dragged Sasha with him. Once they were in and Ismael made sure the room was empty before locking the door, he slammed Sasha into the door. Dear Lord, brain damage here he came. “What the fuck,” Ismael hissed in fury.

“Uh…I’m not exactly following here…” Sasha said in confusion. In a fight between the two of them, they both knew who would win so Sasha just stayed still instead of doing something. This day was going okay not to ruin it by getting pulverized and suspended. Carefully removing Ismael’s hands from his shoulders, Sasha asked “What’s wrong?”

Ismael stared at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world. “Who the fuck gave you the right to kiss him?”

Ah, so this was what this was about. Possessive was definitely checked off now.

“He’s not yours!” Ismael snapped as he continued his rant, his eyes blazing. “You can’t just kiss-”

“And he’s not yours,” Sasha interrupted with a snort. “He’s a human being, not an object. Plus, he’s not even your boyfriend. And if we want to share a mutual peck of pettiness, we can do whatever the fuck we want. We don’t need your almighty permission. Who do you think you are exactly?”

With every word, the blaze in Ismael’s eyes grew. Crossing his arms, he hissed “It’s not your fucking business what we are to each other. I’m the one who made out with him and I’m the _only_ one who gets to kiss him. Get that?”

Shaking his head with a laugh, Sasha replied “Chill for five minutes, yeah? One, I’m not and never have been romantically or sexually attracted to my bestie. I don’t care to kiss him but if we want to do it as a joke, we sure as fuck can without asking your assholiness. Two, again, he’s not your property-”

“But he’s my guy.”

“That’s funny, I hadn’t realized that you asked him out? Or that you even bothered speaking with him today? You can’t just decide when and where you want to play boyfriend, Ismael.”

Shoving Sasha back into the door and jamming a finger into his chest, Ismael said in an oddly quiet and yet vicious tone “You’re his best friend, I get it. I gotta make time for you. But what you don’t fucking do is invade into space that’s only for me. Next time you kiss him or do anything that surpasses what I consider the friend line, then you’re fucked, Sasha.”

Puh-lease. Pushing the hand away and walking over to a urinal, Sasha undid his pants to take care of his extreme urge to pee that had been cramping him since he had left class. “Fuck off, Ismael. A little advice? No one likes a controlling asshole. I’d check that if you plan on asking Nic out.”

He said nothing as Ismael quite violently walked out and said nothing of the incident to Nico as they walked to his house. He wanted to sit Nico down good and proper so they could have a good talk about Ismael’s…questionable qualities.

Or at least, that had been the plan. It really had been. But Sasha would be lucky if ever remembered anything that happened that day after this moment when he came face to face with the man sitting in his living room.

Viktor.


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> _“You both make me sick.”_

Sasha stared, completely dumbfounded as Viktor stood with Barbie Bitch beside him, a smile upon the man’s face. Nico was frozen beside him, his mouth agape at the sight before them. Flicking his eyes over to his very pissed off looking grandmother, Sasha hoped his eyes conveyed enough of a question for her to be able to read. Getting to her feet, she gestured Sasha and Nico over.

“That’s…” Nico trailed off in a whisper as they both literally just stood there, not moving a muscle.

“Sasha, come say hello,” his grandmother finally said, possibly frustrated that he was standing there like an idiot.

Slipping off his Nike’s and setting his bag down beside them, he walked over to the living room, hesitance in his every step. Maybe if Viktor wasn’t currently pushing for custody, Sasha would be mildly excited on the fact that the man had come all this way to meet him in person.

But he was so Sasha wasn’t.

He stuck out his hand to Viktor and smiled nervously “Nice to meet you in person, I guess.”

Viktor took the hand enthusiastically, a broad smile on his handsome face. Sasha didn’t look like his father one bit, that was for sure. Besides for his height, maybe. “My pleasure. You have no idea.” Gesturing over to his Barbie, Viktor introduced her. “This is my wife, your stepmother, Hanna.”

Hanna sounded like too sweet of a name for the woman before him. She really did look sweet and was naturally pretty in that girl next door sort of way but Sasha just didn’t like her based on that one phone call. Naming her Barbie Bitch didn’t exactly help his outlook either. “Nice to meet you,” Sasha said politely. Realizing that Nic was still standing there all wide eyed, he introduced his friend to his…parents.

Yeah…he wasn’t sure that he liked that title.

“That’s my best friend, Nicolas. Known each other since literally forever.”

Shaking himself awake, Nico pulled off his slip ons and dropped his bag next to Sasha’s before walking over. He was nervous, Sasha could tell, just from the tone of his voice. “Nice to meet you guys.”

“My pleasure,” Viktor greeted with a smile. He gestured to the couches, “Let’s sit?”

“Uh…yeah,” Sasha murmured as he sat beside his grandmother, making sure that she was between him and the strangers. He wasn’t at all comfortable having them here. It was like an invasion of his safe space. “Um, hi.”

Viktor laughed – a nice laugh – and replied “Hello. I know this is probably a surprise.”

“Definitely a surprise. Really, um, wow.”

“Well, I thought that it was important that we finally met in person. My business is in my own hands so I was able to take a few months so I can spend them with you so we can really get to know one another. I truly hope that you’re as excited as I am.”

Did he just say a few months? Holy shit. Sasha didn’t want to show how _un_ excited he was because of Viktor having to go screw shit up so he smiled and said “Wow, months, huh? That’s…wow, um, just…wow.”

“Loss of words are always good,” Viktor laughed, leaning forward so his arms rested on his knees. Fuck, this guy was _tall_. “I can’t wait for us to spend time to get to know each other. Life made it where we were separated but thankfully, it brought us together.” Suddenly looking like he remembered something, Viktor bounced to his feet and walked behind the couches. “I have some things for you.”

Jesus. “That wasn’t necessary but thank you.” Smiling nervously at Hanna as Viktor came back around with…a literal suitcase, Sasha said “It’s very nice to get to meet you, ma’am.”

She smiled but it felt too fake. However, Sasha didn’t exactly blame her. He understood that this wasn’t the easiest thing in the world for her right now. “Just Hanna, dear. And it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

Hanna hardly looked old but she sure talked like she was raised by a pack of grannies. Sasha looked at Viktor in surprise when he parked the entire suitcase in front of Sasha, pushing the fancy Italian table out of the way.

Hold up.

Italian.

Forgetting that they weren’t alone, Sasha couldn’t help but laugh at his sudden realization as Viktor took his seat back beside Hanna. Nudging Nico with his shoulder, he nodded towards the table. “The table’s Italian, dude.”

Nico was staring at him like he was crazy while Viktor and Barbie blinked at him in confusion as though they were missing something. Which, yes, they were. “Yeah…we both already know that. Every piece of furniture in this house is Italian, Sasha. Besides the stuff in your room and the entertainment room. So…?”

“The convo I told you about? About…the mafias…?” He couldn’t say ‘the one where baba wants Viktor dead’ in front of Viktor. That would not be smart. Not at all.

Breaking into laughter as he caught on, Nico leaned behind Sasha and poked baba. “Baba, I thought Italians were good for nothings? Show offs? Huh? Why do you have their furniture everywhere, old lady?”

Giving them each an amused glare, baba shoved them both off the couch, almost into the suitcase of gifts. “Aye, what do you two know? Because they are show offs, they know how to make furniture, you fools. Not the odd garbage taste you two have.”

“Rude, baba,” Sasha laughed with a shake of his head. “You’re paying for overpriced stuff just because it’s Italian, y’know.”

“I’m paying for craftsmanship.”

“Uhuh,” he snorted sarcastically, carefully laying down the suitcase onto the floor. Glancing over at Viktor who was watching him with an amused glow in his eyes, Sasha asked “This whole thing is for me?”

Viktor nodded enthusiastically. “Open it up.”

Rubbing his hand along the top like an idiot, Nico said in wonder “Whoa, bae, you’ve always wanted a gorgeous suitcase before.”

“Fucking ass,” Sasha laughed as he pushed Nic’s hand away and opened it up to reveal…everything. From clothes, to toys, to electronics, Viktor had gone all the way out. A box caught his eye, Sasha going for that first. “This is a phone.”

Nico scooted closer and stared at the box with him. “Oh, that’s pretty.”

“I thought we needed a direct way we could talk,” Viktor explained. There was a remaining glint of something that Sasha wasn’t sure what it was but it didn’t come out in Viktor’s voice. “This way I don’t have to always call the house.”

Sasha didn’t even need to bother to look behind himself to see baba’s expression because he knew for a fact that she wouldn’t be happy. “That’s…wow…thank you.” He glanced through the bag, “For everything. Wow. You really didn’t have to.”

“Of course I did. I need to make up for all of our lost time. I’m sorry that it was lost in the first place.”

“That wasn’t exactly on you,” Sasha murmured as he dug through the stuff. Pulling out a beautiful pair of Nike’s that were hopefully his size, he said in awe “I love these.”

It was like he had told Viktor that he loved _him,_ not the shoe. His entire face beamed in so much joy that Sasha was blinded for a moment. “I don’t exactly know your…style, but I tried to get what I figured might work. Although…” Viktor glanced down at Sasha with slight disapproval, “I hope you typically dress better than that.”

He took the moment to glance down at himself curiously. How was he dressed? It was just his favorite pair of jeans that were a bit too broken in and an athletic shirt. Dark red because he loved that color and it usually looked good on him along with dark blue and black. “What’s wrong with how I’m dressed?” he asked curiously, looking back up at Viktor on the couch. “It’s just jeans and a shirt.”

“I think you look fab, bestie,” Nico jumped in sweetly, continuing the dig through Barney’s bag. “Makes you very you in that ‘jock but doesn’t want to waste his time being a jock way’. Love it. It’s like the ‘too cool to care’ version of Ismael.”

“But you like how Ismael dresses,” he said to point out the obvious, poking Nic in the ribs. “So how’s that work exactly?”

“Duh,” Nico snorted, “Ismael dresses the way an Ismael dresses and Sasha dresses the way a Sasha dresses.”

“Which means….”

“That you guys dress the way that best makes you yourself. Duh. And Monique likes you the way you are, so chill, dear.”

Ha. Ha. Yeah, she did, didn’t she? A smile unwittingly grew on his face as he considered this thought. Monique _liked him_. God, that felt really good. “Ha, yeah, she does, doesn’t she? I feel like a winner now.”

“Aw, babe, you’re always a winner, don’t worry,” Nico laughed as he pulled out a Nintendo DS Lite. “Oooh, Sasha, can I have your old one? Mine broke, ‘member?”

Yeah, actually he did being that he was the one who had broken it by sitting on it a few weeks ago. He’d meant to go out and buy Nico a new one but forgot to since they hadn’t played in a while. “I freaking remember,” he snorted as Nico laughed. “God, I said I’d buy you a new one.” He was about to give him this one but realized how upset that might make Viktor. “My old one’s all yours.”

“Bwahaha,” Nico declared with fist pump that Sasha stopped before he became too Jersey.

“Do…you guys normally speak like this?”

Both Sasha and Nico turned to look at Viktor curiously. Like what? “What do you mean?”

With a carefully concerned face, Viktor said “The whole…bae and babe and…dear.”

It hadn’t even occurred to Sasha not to talk the way that they usually did in front of Viktor. Or not to mention Ismael. What if Viktor was a homophobe? Fuck. “Uh…”

“Yeah, actually, we do,” Nico practically snapped. His friend had been dealing with enough homophobic shit for the past almost week and apparently wasn’t going to take it in Sasha’s house. Hell, pretty much Nico’s second home. “It’s called being friendly and loving and brotherly.”

“Your manners leave something to be desired,” Viktor said stiffly as he leaned back into the couch and set a foot on a knee. Hanna just looked like she was so bored out of her life. “And this…brotherliness of yours is far inappropriate speech. It leaves space for…questions.”

Looking super pissed – Sasha wished that Nico would have the guts to stand up for himself in the face of the school bullies – he snapped “Then ask them. I’m gay, Viktor. Gay as hell. If that’s a problem,” he pointed towards the door, “there’s the door.” Sasha couldn’t help but laugh at Viktor and Hanna’s faces. Go Nico. Damn. “If I want to platonically flirt with my bestie, then I’m going to flirt and joke and laugh with my bestie. No one is going to stop me.”

Viktor’s eyes were hard and the anger in them was…scary. Now he knew what the man would look like if Sasha had ever gotten into trouble. Clenching his jaw, he turned his focus on Sasha. “That’s the best type of friend you could possibly pick, Aleksandr?”

Sasha’s jaw literally dropped. Not only had he dissed Nic but he had the fucking nerve to ‘Aleksandr’ him? This piece of shit had the nerve? “I told you I don’t like-”

“A name is a name and it’s yours. But that’s hardly the problem here-”

“Enough!” baba snapped, getting to her feet. She was a billion times shorter than Viktor but Sasha knew that she was a trillion times fiercer. Especially when it came to fighting for Sasha and even Nico. “You do not come into our home, disrespect both boys whom I love, and expect to get away with it.”

Getting to his own feet, Viktor gestured to Sasha and Nico harshly, snapping something that neither of them understood before going on a full on Ukrainian rant. Sasha was sure there was a lot of homophobia in that rant of his. Fuck this guy. Grabbing everything he and Nic had taken out of the suitcase – including the gorgeous Nike’s – Sasha shoved it all back in angrily and zipped the bag back up to the sound of his grandmother and Viktor snapping at each other.

“I’ve never wanted to know Ukrainian more in my life,” Nico murmured in wonder as he watched the two adults. “Damn, Sasha, she’s gonna eat him alive.”

“Fucking good,” he muttered as he shoved the bag towards Hanna’s feet. Her eyes flicked from her husband to them. “I don’t want them.”

She looked…happy. Not like happy where she grinned or jumped in joy but her eyes were glowing in triumph. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that she had never wanted him to be around. “He’d be really upset if you didn’t accept them. He picked them all out himself.”

“Don’t act like you care.”

Hanna’s eyes shot open in shock. “Excuse me?”

It didn’t even occur to Sasha that the yelling had stopped. “Don’t act like you care if things work out. We all know that you’d prefer that it didn’t. Spare me your fakeness, Hanna.”

“Excuse you?” Sasha’s eyes shot over to a very pissed looking Viktor. “Have you no manners? No decency or respect-”

He wasn’t in a particularly manner-filled mood right now. “I mean, don’t act like you do. There’s no such thing as decency in homophobes.”

“Sasha, enough,” baba said in a voice full of annoyance but he could tell that it wasn’t because of him. Turning on Viktor, she crossed her arms tight. “I think it’s time you left, Viktor.”

Viktor was stiff as hell as he nodded, fury blazing in his eyes as he walked towards the door without another word. He didn’t even wait for Hanna as he yanked the door open and walked out. Hanna got to her high heel adorned feet and grabbed the suitcase, looking just a tad smug, before following her husband out, slamming the door shut.

“Good fucking riddance!” Nico shouted after them before he stuck out his tongue. “No one wanted you guys around anyways!”

Maybe Sasha had wanted Viktor around before, even entertained a tiny thought after the whole custody shit that was going on, but now?

Now Viktor could go fucking burn in hell with his Barbie Bitch.


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy peeps
> 
> P.S. I know the chapter isn't all exciting and stuff but please keep in mind I wrote this thru writer's block and I kinda sorta gotta set the stage for things to come  
> Thanks
> 
> _“So for everything I say, you’re going to make an excuse?”_

“We all have different family structures, Sasha,” Monique said as they sat at his dining room table eating ravioli. Like, Chef Boyardee ravioli. Baba had wanted to cook them something really nice for his lunch invite but she had rushed over to Nico’s house after receiving a letter in the mail. What the letter was, Sasha had no idea but his gut told him that it wasn’t good. “Maybe your father just isn’t meant to be in the picture.”

Sasha sure as hell didn’t want the man in the picture anymore. He was fucking up Sasha’s entire life right now. “Then if he isn’t meant to be in the picture, he shouldn’t try to get custody. I don’t know why he’s still trying after the disaster. If anything, it feels like he’s trying even harder now.”

“Maybe it’s like a pride thing now. How could he have a kid and not have him, you know?”

“He can go fuck himself,” Sasha muttered as he got to his feet to go open the door. It was probably Nico anyways, especially since baba had gone to his house. Opening the door, Sasha couldn’t say that he was happy to see Ismael with his bestie. “What up.”

“Hola, bae,” Nico said as he bounced in, slipping off his shoes before he went over to where Monique was, taking Sasha’s seat after grabbing a spoon from the drawer. “Aw, baby, you cooked for me?” Nico took a huge scoop of ravioli from Sasha’s plate and swallowed with a smile. “Delicious.”

“That was mine,” he snorted as he shut the door after Ismael came in. “Shoes, man.” Ismael backed up and took off his shoes, setting them beside Nico’s. “Surprised to see your face around.”

“Bae number 2 came to visit but I was already out the door coming to my bae number 1,” Nico called out as he grabbed a soda from the fridge. He walked back to the table and took his seat – Sasha’s seat, he should say – with the _chink_ of the can opening as Ismael pulled out the chair beside him and sat down. “So Viktor’s pulling more bull?”

Sighing in depression and throwing himself down onto the couch because he liked to abuse power while his grandmother wasn’t home, Sasha mumbled into the pillow “She won’t tell me nothing.” He was too distressed to even care that they were having this talk in front of Ismael. “It has to be something bad because the minute she read it, she practically went running to your house. Fuck my life.”

“Who’s Viktor exactly?” Ismael asked.

“The bullshit man who fucked that bullshit woman that made me.”

“I thought your parents don’t give a fuck about you?”

Sasha raised his hands in a ‘beats me, I’m defeated’ movement before dropping them back down. So did he and currently, he wished that Viktor still didn’t know about his existence. “I’m apparently wanted now. I totally thought my disrespect would be a turn off.”

“Dude, so did I!” Nico exclaimed as he was suddenly sitting atop Sasha. He kept poking Sasha until Sasha rolled over to throw him off. Nico just laughed and smiled at him from the floor. “My dear Sasha, we need to get into contact with those mafias baba was going on about.” He slid a finger across his throat, “They gotta do the deed.”

He sat up and slouched into the expensive cushions. “She kind of narrowed our options down to zip. I mean, who’s in Jersey that would be more trustworthy than the Italians?”

“Your grandma wanted to kill your dad?” Monique asked in laughter. “Tell me you guys are joking.”

“She had it all planned out. Apparently, we’re getting into contact with a mafia for an overseas hit. Although…I think it just got a lot easier because he’s here now…”

Ismael looked surprised. “He’s here?”

“Oh, yes,” Nico nodded as he crawled up the couch to plop beside Sasha. “Brought Barbie Bitch and his homophobia with him too.”

Sasha suddenly remembered what he’d been meaning to ask Nico since that day with Viktor. Nudging his friend, he asked “Why the hell can’t you take on the assholes at school the way you did with Viktor?”

“The assholes at school can make every day of my life a day in hell. Viktor can’t touch me. Plus, baba was in the room. She’s always got my back.” Draping himself over Sasha, Nico grinned at him. “So, have you asked Monique out yet?”

He felt absolutely no guilt as he shoved Nico onto the floor, a loud _thud_ echoing in the large brownstone followed by a groan. Sasha wasn’t sure he could look at Monique right now, especially because he knew his face was red as fuck. About to tell Nico how much of an ass he was, Sasha was interrupted by the entrance of Ismael’s hand in his view as he grasped Nico’s and pulled him up.

“Isn’t he the sweetest?” Nico laughed as he clutched Ismael close. The ‘savior’ has a blush creeping up his neck but wrapped an arm around Nico as if to prove something.

“You make me sick.”

Nico stuck out his tongue and laughed again as he dragged Ismael to baba’s chair and pushed him down into it before plopping himself into his lap. It couldn’t be comfortable because Ismael looked so stiff that he surpassed a board. His bestie must’ve agreed as he tried to get comfy before he sighed and turned to look at Ismael. “Relax before I decide to sit on Sasha instead.”

That was more than enough incentive for the asshole, loosening up and even wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist.

“You both make me sick.”

“Aw, they’re cute,” Monique laughed as she came over to join them, sitting down beside Sasha. “Look at them! Adorable.”

“I disagree,” Sasha snorted with an eyeroll. Ismael could never be considered adorable. No way. Ew.

Wrapping an arm around his shoulders causing his heart to flutter, Monique said with a smile “So…Sasha, when are you going to ask Monique out?”

Covering his face in embarrassment as Nico broke into laughter, Sasha groaned in disbelief. Damn Nico. Fine, two could play at this game. Removing his hands, he grinned and replied “When Ismael askes Nic out. How’s that?”

A mischievous gleam glowed in Monique’s eyes as she turned to the unadorable idiot who was looking pissed. “Yeah, Ismael. Why haven’t you asked Nicolas out yet?”

“The fuck is it any of your business?” Ismael snapped. Sasha didn’t know that people could be both angry and embarrassed at the same time but it seemed if anyone could do it, it was Ismael. “Or yours?” he added with an accusing look as he glared at Sasha.

“Don’t,” Nico warned Sasha because he knew that Sasha was incapable at keeping his mouth shut about something like that. Of course it was Sasha’s business. Fuck this guy. Turning to Ismael and making sure that he stayed focused on him with a finger resting against his jaw, Nico murmured “Chill, it’s a joke and take the time you need.” He leaned closer and now Sasha just felt grossed out as Nico pressed his lips to Ismael’s and whispered something he couldn’t catch.

“They’re so cute,” Monique whispered in awe.

“No they’re not,” Sasha snorted as he got up to go to the kitchen and clean up the mess he had left behind. Ravioli sauce stained dishes for days. “They’re sickening.”

“Aw, babe!” Nico called as he sat up and turned in the chair. Or should he say turned in the Ismael? No, that just sounded…wrong. “Don’t be like that. I’ll call you and Monique cute.”

“Yeah but see, you’ll mean that,” Sasha replied as he began washing the dishes, spraying bleach in the plates as he did. Heavy duty power was needed here. “I don’t. Especially not with Ismael grabbing your ass.”

“He’s making sure I don’t fall,” Nico laughed as he rested his arms on the back of the chair and his head atop them. Ismael turned his head to glare at Sasha but said nothing. “I’m just thankful he appreciates my nonexistent ass. I need to do more squats.”

“Oooh, those are no fun,” Monique jumped in with a tired sounding groan like she was doing squats literally right this second. Had to be squat phantom pain. “God, I do so many of them to stay in shape for cheer and softball. Hey, do you want to do stretches and stuff together from now on? It’ll be fun.”

Nico spun back around to talk to Monique and Sasha listened as they made plans to be exercise buddies. His bestie had tried a million times to convince Sasha to do stretches with him but he always refused. He’d jog and he’d play sports, that was his version of exercise and sounded plenty to him.

He was drying the dishes and putting them away when Ismael was suddenly beside him, watching closely. Nic had taken Monique upstairs to the entertainment room and Ismael had followed so Sasha was surprised to find him back down here. “What’s up?”

Scratching along his jaw in thought, Ismael finally said ever so quietly “I…need some advice.”

“Cute,” Sasha murmured because there was only one reason Ismael needed advice. He really wasn’t behind this relationship but Nico would be pissed if Sasha tried to screw them up. “On Nico, I imagine.”

“Yeah. I don’t like asking you but you know him best so I don’t have a choice. I-”

“Your first two points of advice are,” Sasha interrupted as he raised a finger to count, “don’t insult me because I guarantee you that he won’t like it,” he raised another finger, “And next time, compliment his ass.”

Ismael looked taken aback. “What?”

Returning back to putting the dishes away, he explained “The only thing he’s insecure about is, shockingly and I have no idea why, his ass. He thinks it’s small and flat. Which, let’s be real, it is. He wants a Kardashian butt which is incredibly disturbing but I support my bestie in all ventures. He made fun of his butt, you stayed silent. You should have disagreed or something like that.”

“His ass isn’t flat.”

Sasha turned and stared at Ismael. “I guess you spend a lot of time looking at it.”

Entirely unembarrassed by this admission, Ismael replied “It’s nice to look at. I like it.”

Pointing at Ismael, Sasha said “Then tell him that. Guaranteed to win you points all around.”

He nodded as he thought about this before he seemed convinced like it was the best idea he’d ever heard. “Okay, I can do that. Easy. Anything else?”

“Yeah, actually,” Sasha answered, wiping the sink as he did before giving the kitchen a double check to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Looked good to him. “Talk to him at school. You don’t even bother.”

At this, Ismael’s face turned…kind of sour. Which worried Sasha to no end because if he wasn’t willing to be seen around school with Nico and wasn’t willing to face the jackasses with him, then why the fuck did he even deserve to be with him? “We’ve been talking about that. That’s between me and him. Doesn’t include you.”

Which meant that Ismael had guilted Nico into consenting to anonymity. Fucking lovely. He needed to have a chat with his lovely bestie ASAP. “Uhuh. Well, I guess then you’ll figure the rest out. Between you and him and all.”

“You’re a fucking ass. I’ve no idea why he even likes you.”

“I’ve no idea why he even likes _you_. But he does so I have to deal.”

“Sounds like we’re in the same boat then,” Ismael grunted in disappointment. And Sasha couldn’t even blame him for that because he was just as disappointed. “So the fuck does your dad want anyways?”

Wow, they were getting personal. Weird. “He wants custody.”

“Why? He doesn’t even know you.”

“Because he’s garbage,” Sasha sighed because he had no answer for that. Why did Viktor have to ruin the okay-ness they had had going? Why couldn’t they just have stuck to their phone calls? They had been doing so well. But no, the piece of shit had to go and file for custody like he had the right. Shutting off the kitchen light, he went and threw himself in his grandmother’s favorite chair. “I don’t even get a fucking choice. The court will ‘review the case’ and see which home is more fitting for me.”

Following suit, Ismael sat in the couch next to him. “Okay but wouldn’t that be the house you grew up in?”

Rubbing his face as he titled his head up to the ceiling, Sasha groaned “Fuck, I hope so. I don’t want to live in Ukraine. I don’t even speak Ukrainian.” He removed his hands but kept his face up to the high ceiling. “Plus, who the hell wants to live with _six_ siblings? I’ve been an only child my whole life and then they’re going to thrust me with six younger siblings who just based on theory of me being a 'bastard child' and also because of their mother will hate my guts.”

“My brothers aren’t even half siblings and they don’t exactly like me so I guess family love is subjective,” Ismael snorted. Sasha lowered his head and watched Ismael pull at a loose string in his shorts. “Sucks balls being in between. I’m the second youngest but that doesn’t mean I get the baby pampering my kid brother does. But then because I’m younger than three other boys, I also don’t get the parental affection. Then there’s three bastards to bug me. Bullshit. You don’t want siblings. Trust me.”

Huh. To be honest, just from his dislike of Ismael, Sasha had never cared to know about him but he had to admit to his curiosity now. “Bet it’d be even harder if you came out, huh.”

Ismael’s sexuality was a very touchy subject unless you were Nico so Sasha knew that he was playing with fire as Ismael’s eyes blew into a blaze and he straightened in his seat. “The fuck is that-”

“Any of my business, I know. But whether we like it or not, we’re each other’s business now if we’re gonna be stuck as tentative brother-in-laws.”

“I’m not fucking gay, man. Do I look fucking gay?”

Oh, that was rich. “Uhuh…and yet…you love looking at Nico’s ass. I’m pretty sure that’s pretty gay.” Sasha waved off Ismael’s oncoming outburst. “Whatever, dude. That’s your problem. But if you want to be dating my bestie, you better find a way to admit your sexuality to at least yourself for Nico’s sake.”

The flame was still there but it had dampened as Ismael slouched back into the cushion. “Why don’t you worry about how you’re going to ask out Monique and I’ll worry about Nicolas. Stick to your field, yeah?”

Jealousy was not cute at all. He just hoped he could convince Nico to see some sense when it came to Ismael. This guy wasn’t proper relationship material at all.


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> There was a chapter before where I had put that Proko had just turned 13...that's wrong, don't listen to it. He's been thirteen for awhile now
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> _“Oh, babe, are you being passive aggressive towards your non-boyfriend?”_

It was evening by the time Monique and Ismael left and yet his grandmother had yet to return. Saying that Sasha was worried was an understatement because if it took this long to go over whatever that paper was then…

Yeah.

“Maybe she stayed for dinner,” Nico offered helpfully as they lounged on Sasha’s bed. Video games had lost their appeal after four hours. “Or…they’re planning me a totally awesome fourteenth birthday party.”

Laughing as he shook his head at Nico’s stupidity, Sasha replied “Dude, your birthday is in a month and a half _and_ mine comes first. Why would they be planning your b-day when they could be doing mine?”

“Pft,” Nico blew with a roll of his eyes as he rolled onto his stomach and wrapped his hands around the pillow under his head as he stared at Sasha with those damn blues of his. “Mine has to be way more extravagant than yours so it needs serious planning. Think about everything that’s happened that needs to be celebrated. I came out successfully and I have a boyfriend. I need a totally gay party. You think we can buy gallons of glitter off the internet? That’s so totally gay.”

One of the gifts Sasha would give him this year would definitely be a box of glitter. “You don’t have a boyfriend.”

Nico shoved him in the shoulder. “Don’t be a jerk. Ismael is totally my boyfriend. We kiss all the time. God, Sasha, he’s soooooo good at it. Gives me jitters and makes me breathless and I end up with seriously aching boners. God, imagine when we do stuff farther than kissing? Omigod.”

“I really don’t want to.” They really needed to learn how to have filters with each other. Sasha didn’t want to know or imagine any of that. “And that’s all fantastic but that doesn’t make you guys together. At all. And what do your parents think about him exactly?” There was no way they liked Ismael; they were too protective to just give up their baby to an asshole like that.

Blushing and hiding his face into the pillow, Nico said something that was way too muffled for Sasha to make out. Pushing Nico’s temple with a finger to turn his face back towards him, he poked him and waited for a proper answer. Nico turned even redder but mumbled “They don’t know.”

“Ah.”

“Don’t ‘ah’ me.”

“So what exactly do they think is going on when he comes over?”

If Nico’s face had been red before, it reached the level of eternal purple embarrassment now as he tried to shrink into his shirt. “They…don’t know he comes. He only came that once when my mom was home but after that…he comes when he knows they aren’t around.”

“Ohohohoho,” Sasha said in the most superior voice that he could manage. Aw, man, was Nico fucked if they found out that he was doing all this behind their backs. “That sounds very bad, bestie.”

“I’m just…waiting for the right opportunity. And…for Ismael to…want to tell.”

The perfect opening that Sasha had been waiting for. “So…I think we need to talk a bit about Ismael and his…questionable qualities.”

“Ohhhhh boy.”

“Yessireee,” Sasha laughed as he crossed his legs and kept poking Nico until he focused on him. “Look, I’m sure his kissing abilities and dirty talk are stunning but what happened to wanting a guy who’d treat you right?”

Sighing as he rolled onto his back, Nico replied “But he does treat me right. He’s totally sweet on me, Sasha. It’s just…he’s not good at it when people are around. “

“I’m not people and I’ve seen no proof of this sweetness.”

With a roll of his eyes, Nico sat up and said “He’s just a little shy.”

Pfffttttt. Oh-puh-LEASE. Shy his ass. “Fine,” Sasha said with a shrug. He’d let him roll with that if he wanted; Sasha still had lots more ammo. “He doesn’t like me and try to lie yourself out of that one.”

From Nico’s blush, Sasha had a feeling that Ismael must have actually told him something similar to that. “He just has to get to know you.”

“So for everything I say, you’re going to make an excuse?”

Looking just a tad frustrated, Nico threw his hands up in the air and huffed. Pointing an evil finger at Sasha, he griped “You don’t see me making up a million issues about Monique. Why you being so…” he spun his finger around as he searched for what he wanted, “I don’t know! Anal? Slightly mean?”

Monique’s personality was at least sweet all around; Nico had proof of it. Until Sasha saw a redeeming quality in Ismael, he didn’t plan on letting this go. “Go ahead. Tell me some genuine flaw in Monique that I need to worry about. Ismael literally beat you up-”

“He didn’t know me yet.”

“He has more than once used demeaning homophobic language towards us and specifically you-”

“They were jokes; he knows better now.”

Sasha didn’t care how many times he was interrupted, he’d finish his list. “He won’t talk to you in school-”

“We don’t need that stress.”

“Your parents don’t know-”

With each statement, Nico’s face grew more shuttered and annoyed. “They’re super protective and need to be eased into the idea,” he snapped as he crossed his arms defensively. “Go ahead, keep going.”

Okay, okay, he had a really good one here. Feeling entirely smug as he crossed his own arms, Sasha said “He’s not gay. Not _fucking_ gay. _And_ , and, looking gay is insulting and must be revolting because he doesn’t fucking look gay.”

Nico’s frustrations eased of his face as it made way for wary curiosity. “What?”

“We were talking and I said something about him coming out to his family. He said that he’s not fucking gay and I quote here ‘do I look fucking gay?’” The quote he of course said in an overly exaggerated mock Ismael voice. “So what do you, a gay boy, have to say about that?”

Hurt was reflected in Nico’s eyes and while Sasha hated that it was there, he just needed Nic to see past the expert kissing and supposed sweetness. Biting his thumbnail, Nico said in a troubled voice “He said that?” Sasha nodded. “But…I mean…that’s ridiculous. I don’t think he was doing the whole ‘not gay, bi’ thing either.” Yeah, Sasha didn’t think so either. “I thought he likes me?”

“He does,” Sasha affirmed even though it pretty much killed him to do so. But there was no way around that one because Ismael really did like Nico. “You’re not wrong.”

Flicking those troubled eyes to Sasha instead of the blanket, Nico murmured around his nail “But if he likes me…what’s wrong with looking gay? How does gay look? Does he mean the way I dress? Does he not like it? I think I look nice.”

“You always look fabulous, love,” Sasha cut in quickly. How was it that instead of getting upset by Ismael’s words, his friend was instead depreciating himself like he had to change? Not on Sasha’s life, thank you. “C’mon, who in the hell can rock those jeans better than you?”

A small smile grew on Nico’s face as his eyes lit up and he removed his hand from his mouth. “Yeah, huh? I’m totes fab, huh, bestie?”

“Totes as totes,” he laughed as he dragged Nico into a hug. He was about to give some more of that good ole emotional support but the doorbell cut him off. “Baba doesn’t ring the bell,” he murmured slowly in confusion. She had her own key and would call out once she was in.

“Ew,” Nico muttered as they unwrapped from their hug and got off the bed. “Who would come now?”

Thinking the same thing, he followed his bestie out of the room and to the door. Nico took a bow and gestured for Sasha to handle the door like the idiot he was. Peeking through the peephole, Sasha wondered if he could just act like there was no one here. “It’s Viktor,” he whispered to Nico.

“What!” Nico said in the most scandalized whisper-shout that Sasha had ever heard. Nudging Sasha to the side, he went on his tip toes and looked out the little hole. “Oh my God.” Spinning back around and refraining from bouncing, Nico whispered “What do we do? No way baba wants us to let him in without her being here.”

Yeah, definitely no way. God, she’d beat him or something. “Okay…maybe we just talk through the door.”

Nodding, Nico added “With the chain on.”

“Definitely with the chain on.”

They both nodded in unison as the bell rang again before Sasha unlocked all five locks besides the chain. Opening the door the two inches that it could with the chain on, Sasha gave a tentative smile to Viktor because it was that damn involuntary reaction of being nervous as Nico stuck his head under Sasha’s arm to look out the crack with him. “Um…hi,” Sasha said softly.

Smiling with such a bright smile that no one would think that they had fought the day before, Viktor replied completely cheerily “Hello! How are you, Sasha?” His eyes flicked to Nico and even in the evening dusk, Sasha could tell that they darkened. “Hello…N…”

“Nicolas,” Nico provided with a smile, “The gay one.”

Sasha made sure to stamp down his smile before Viktor took note of it. The man settled for a deep breath before returning his focus to Sasha. “May I come in?”

“Baba doesn’t let us let people in when she isn’t home,” Nico replied in his special know-it-all voice. “Sorry.”

Completely ignoring Nico, Viktor raised his brows at Sasha. “Well?”

“Baba…tells me not to let strangers in. Sorry.”

“Stranger danger,” Nico added with a nod.

There was a flash of annoyance but it was quickly replaced with what must be his ‘professional, I’m a businessman’ look. Sasha didn’t like it at all. “Understandable and I’m glad you take note of her words.” God, how could someone make ‘follow her rules’ sound so fancy? “Do you know when she’ll be back? I can come back later. I’d like to come back later.”

After the letter she got in the mail today, there was no way in hell that baba would let Viktor into the house. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything though I can’t always guarantee an answer.”

Was he really going to do this? He had the right to, didn’t he? “Um…” he darted his gaze away from Viktor’s, not able to meet him in the eye, “why…why do you want custody? We don’t even know each other.”

“And it’s not fair to baba,” Nico added in a much stronger sounding voice than Sasha’s nervousness. “She’s been raising Sasha all this time and then you come and try to take him away like she has no right to him.”

There was a considering softness in Viktor that just made Sasha want to punch the man. He really didn’t want his consideration or pity or whatever the fuck. “Perhaps that’s something that should be spoken in a more serious setting rather than the stoop?”

“We still can’t let you in.”

If he didn’t have Nico with him, he’d be blustering like an idiot. “Also baba’s really upset so I don’t think she wants you coming around anytime soon,” Sasha said because there was no point in tiptoeing around it. It’d be better if Viktor knew rather than him constantly returning. “Generally, she needs like a week to cool off.”

“But you pissed her off totally extra so…” Nico trailed off in thought as he considered a decent time frame, “I’d give her at least three.”

“Three and a half maybe,” Sasha corrected. Baba did not forgive or forget for that matter.

“Four.”

Viktor turned as Sasha and Nico glanced past him at baba coming up the stairs of the stoop. “Titka,” he greeted with a nod. “How are you?”

She was grumbling under her breath as she made her way up the last few steps. Viktor held out his hand to help her but she gave it a glare before stopping front of the door. “Are you two just going to stand there?”

“Sasha says we’re not letting you in until you tell us whose birthday you were planning.” Sasha rolled his eyes while baba laughed and shook her head as Nico continued “I told him it was obviously mine being that big gay parties take way more work to plan out. I want lots of glitter, baba.”

“Sasha will buy you all the glitter you like,” she snorted in amusement as he and Nico leaned out of the way, undid the chain, and opened the door wide. “Every color.”

“Don’t make promises I won’t keep, baba,” Sasha replied, glancing at Viktor who was very obviously waiting to be invited in. “Baba?” She turned to look at him as he nodded to Viktor, needing instruction on what to do. His grandmother spared a glance at Sasha's father before shaking her head and walking away.

“Ooooh, harsh,” Nico whispered.

Scratching at his head, Sasha turned to Viktor and shrugged. “It hasn’t been four weeks, you know?”

What surprised him was when Viktor laughed and nodded like it all totally made sense. “Fair enough. Have a good night, Sasha. I do hope that those four weeks doesn’t mean that we won’t speak to each other. We…started off badly but…I hope we can work it out.”

“Uh…I guess we’ll just have to see.”

Viktor nodded again before wishing them a good night and walking off into the evening.


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Uh so...news. I'm mentally exhausted right now so...despite me always swearing to myself I'd never do it, this story is going on hiatus. Only a couple weeks so it'll be back the first week of October but yeah
> 
> See y'all Oct 3rd  
> Sorry and enjoy

Sasha called a goodbye to his grandmother before shutting the door and bouncing down the stairs, eager for the day. He had two important things planned today.

One, buy Monique something that she’d love.

Two, ask her out while giving her the awesome something that she’d love.

He’d seriously considered keeping his word from yesterday of not asking her out until Ismael got his ass moving but how was that fair to him? God, it’d take _forever._ And, thankfully, Nico totally didn’t mind so it was all good. If things went the way they were supposed to, he’d have a gorgeous girlfriend by the end of the day.

Bam.

Funky ass Sasha Prokopenko would have a hot as hell girlfriend.

Making the ten minute walk to Nico’s building, Sasha waited for him out front like always while playing with the straps of his backpack. He called out a greeting when he heard the gate open but when he raised his head, it wasn’t Nico who’d come out ready for the day.

It was Leslie.

“Hey, Les,” Sasha smiled though he wasn’t sure if he should or shouldn’t. She avoided Nico as much as possible and he’d never exactly apologized like he should have. “How you doing?”

Tightening her ponytail as she came down the couple steps to him, she smiled, not entirely warmly, at him. “Hey, Sasha. Not bad, I guess.”

Well this was uncomfortable. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Sasha sighed and said “Look, I’m really sorry about yelling at you the other day. It was rude and well…rude.”

“Trust me,” Leslie snorted as she crossed her arms, “I’m used to people being rude to me. What I wasn’t used to was you. But, hey, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you eventually joined the club.” She said this all with a bite of anger but Sasha could see the hurt lurking just below the surface. “I was stupid to think better of you.”

Now that just wasn’t fair. He was always nice to her; it wasn’t his fault that she started preaching on Nico’s ass. But he wasn’t going to allow himself to be angry about her words. “You…I just needed you to be quiet, okay? Nico had already been having a shit day as it was not to add your preaching to it. I’m sorry for yelling but what you were saying wasn’t any better than my rudeness.”

Frustration glittered in her green eyes. “Sorry for trying to save his soul from hell.”

Wow… “Hate to break it to you, Leslie, but just because he likes dudes doesn’t mean that he’s going to hell. He’s good people, one of the best people, and I don’t think God is going to make such a stupid call just because he’d rather be with a guy.”

“I’ve arrived!” Nico exclaimed with a fist pump to the sky, suddenly at the top of the stoop. The smile stayed until he noticed Leslie standing, causing it to slowly slide to a worried frown. “Hi, Leslie.”

“Hi,” she snorted as she turned and walked in the direction of school.

“Jerk,” Sasha snorted as Nico came down the steps and stood beside him. “I never thought I’d want to call Leslie a bitch.”

Nico just shrugged with a sad sigh. “It’s not her fault she was raised with such firm beliefs and closed minds. Granted, she could try and open her brain a little but still. Whatever, right?”

“Right,” he nodded as he turned to look at his bestie. “I see we’re all dressed up today?”

Putting his hands on his hips and doing a sort of ‘Superman’ pose, Nico said stoically “I dressed in my favorite clothes that are so totally _gay looking_. What do you think?”

“Oh, babe, are you being passive aggressive towards your non-boyfriend?” Nico smirked confidently, “Oh, Nic, I’m so proud!” Sasha laughed as he ran his gaze up and down his buddy. “Yes, looking _fiiine_. Damn, wish I was gay right now.”

“Liar,” Nico laughed as they began the walk to school, looking positively _bouncy_ like he just saw the light at the end of the tunnel. “But that’s okay, I understand. Monique is way hotter than meeeeee.”

“No shit,” Sasha snorted in amusement. “You think on what I should buy her? I’m kinda thinking…makeup? Is that stupid? I noticed she really likes it and yesterday when she was fixing it in the bathroom, I checked out the brand. Should I buy the same brand or something different?”

“It’s hardly stupid if it’s something she likes,” Nico pointed out, hooking his thumbs in the little loops at the end of the straps of his backpack. “And unless you’re going to pick something better than what she has, stick to the same brand.”

Made sense… “Yeah, I guess so. You’re coming with me, yeah?”

“Wouldn’t miss you picking out makeup for the world, bae.”

“Jackass,” he replied, that certain fondness he always felt for Nico filling his voice. “Fuck, dude, you know I love you right?”

“You’re gonna make me jealous,” came Monique’s sudden laugh.

Flicking their heads to the gate of school, they both laughed as they walked up to her leaning on the fence. Lord, she looked so beautiful. “Took out your braids again?”

Rubbing her closely cropped hair, Monique replied in an almost nervous voice that totally threw Sasha off “Um…yeah. What do you think?”

Sasha blinked in surprise. Was she worried that he wouldn’t like it? “I love it. You always look beautiful.”

Monique _blushed_. Fuck his life, man. That was it, Sasha was officially dead. “Thank you,” she laughed, that little tinny of nerves still in there but smaller now. “I always worry when I go natural and short.”

“Nah, you shouldn’t. Looks great. I love it.”

“Oh my God, Sasha, you’re such a charming sap,” Nico sighed as if it was such a terrible thing. “She’s going to eat you alive.” He pointed at Monique who was laughing, “I like my buddy in one piece, if you don’t mind.”

Monique rolled her eyes as they walked through the gates. “Oh please. I’d like him in one piece too.”

“Okay, see, that’s good. And, hey, so I’ve got news just for you. The Monique special.”

For some reason, Sasha had this sudden nervous boil in his stomach from Nico’s words as Monique replied “Oh?”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded with this evil looking smile. “Sasha’s gonna ask you out today. Make sure you say yes so I don’t have to deal with a mopey bestie.”

Halting in his tracks and covering his face as he groaned, Sasha mumbled “The fuck, man.”

How he perfected the innocent look, Sasha had no idea because Nico was no innocent little thing. “I’ve no clue what you’re talking about. I wanted to give her fair warning is all. Why’s that-” Nico paused, mouth open as a wolf whistle cut him off. He looked around but no one seemed to be talking to them so he continued. “Anyways, why is-”

“Hey, Shvets! Looking gayer than ever! Is that the newest outfit in Fagmopolitan?”

All three of their eyes went wide from the level of the insult, Nico’s especially filled with so much hurt that Sasha was sure that he could commit a murder today on behalf of his friend. Finding the offending bastard, Sasha was about to snap something back but he froze when he saw who the piece of shit was hanging out with.

Ismael.

His face was convincingly blank with not an emotion showing as he completely acted like he couldn’t feel Sasha glaring at him. Oh, Sasha was sure as fuck dealing with that asshole later. He had to deal with Casey first. “The fuck did you just say?”

Casey smirked and rolled his eyes like he didn’t give a crap about Sasha. Which, really, he probably didn’t. “I never knew someone could make Timberlands look gay, man.” Most people laughed – minus Ismael who was still looking deceptively blank – while others smiled uncomfortably. Sauntering over to Nico with Sasha also moving closer just in case, he picked at Nico’s shirt like it was gross. “Like what the hell is this? It’s like you attached a leather crop top to a V-neck. The fuck? You know crop tops are for bitches, right?”

“That’s why he’s wearing it!” someone called out to the echoing laughter. “I’m mean look at the bitch! Are those even pants?”

Nico rubbed a self-conscious hand down his thigh, biting his lip so hard that Sasha was convinced there’d be a whole lot of blood dripping down soon. “They’re jeans.”

“Those are no jeans,” Casey laughed like he was opening the world’s eyes, “Are they your stripper pants?”

Sasha was fucking done.

“Shimmy out of them to show off your thong-” His sentence came to a choking halt after Sasha slammed a fist into his throat. He didn’t fell an ounce of guilt as he grabbed Nico before anyone else could do or say something, dragging them both back out the way they had come. He vaguely could hear rapid footsteps and a second later Monique’s voice.

“We’re ditching,” Nico whispered though his voice and thoughts didn’t seem to be anywhere around.

“Yes, we’re fucking ditching,” he couldn’t help but snap, refusing to come to a halt until he had to, nearly tripping over Monique as she cut in front of them. “What.”

She flicked her glance between the two of them before suddenly hugging Nico close. “Don’t listen to them, okay?” Monique murmured in his ear, “You look freaking fabulous.”

“Damn fucking straight he does,” Sasha agreed, his anger not planning on dying anytime soon. He didn’t even care if he got in trouble with the school or his grandmother. “No shit.” There was a stuttering sound that might have been a laugh but it was too broken to be one as Nico clutched her tightly back, hiding his face in her shoulder. Sasha rubbed his back in what he hoped was a soothing gesture and whispered “What do you want to splurge on today?”

This time, Nico actually did laugh as he broke his and Monique’s embrace, wiping away the start of his tears. “Anything I want?”

“Anything fucking thing, bae.”

His friend laughed again while he wiped his face with the edge of his shirt before replying in a tad less broken voice, thank God “Um…idk yet but just the mall is good?”

“Mall is fucking fab,” Sasha nodded. They’d just stop home and drop off their things and let baba know what was up. “Baba will cover for us.”

“I’m sorry people are horrible,” Monique said, rubbing her hand soothingly on Nico’s, “And I’m jealous that I don’t have a rich bestie.”

Laughing and looking a bit better, Nico snorted “Well, I’m gonna have to share him soon. You’ll have a rich boyfriend which sounds just as nice.”

Sasha groaned as Monique laughed and gave Nico one last hug. “Oh, true that!” Tugging Sasha over to herself, Monique held his chin in her hand and smiled. “It’s not official until you ask but just know that it’s already a yes.”

Heart jittering so much in joy that he was sure it’d explode out of his chest, Sasha said cheekily “Well…do kisses wait for officiality?”

“Not a chance,” she snorted, dragging his head done until their lips met.

And fuck his entire existence, but holy crap.

“Fuck…” he whispered, knowing that he looked like a complete idiot with ginormously open eyes. “Fuck.”

“Yum is more like it,” Monique said as she winked before walking off and calling out behind herself “See you guys later!”

It took him a moment until Nico was literally leaning into him that Sasha noticed that he was speaking. “What?”

Flicking Sasha in the temple, Nico snorted “If you stare any longer at her ass, it might burst in flames.”

“Jackass,” he laughed, shoving him away as they walked back to the house. “Such an ass.”

“And yet I lack one,” Nico lamented with a sad sigh. 

 

* * *

 

Sasha looked so horribly out of place that Nicolas wanted to laugh. Okay, so he’d never been in the makeup section of a store either but he just didn’t stick out the way Sasha did. Maybe because he wasn’t as bulky, though Sasha could hardly even be called that, and he also wasn’t dressed in the typical Sasha manner of athletic shirt, jeans, and Nike’s.

“So she just buys the store brand?” Nico asked as he picked up a…lip pencil. Huh, he’d thought he had an eyeliner in his hand. They looked the same. “That won’t do; we gotta pick something better.”

Curiously looking at the lipstick he was currently holding, Sasha replied “Why? Sephora no good?”

“Beats me but maybe store brand is all she can afford.” Putting the lip liner back where it belonged, Nico took the lipstick from Sasha’s hand and gave it his own curious glance. “Maybe we should pick something name brand.”

“Makes sense,” Sasha said with a shrug, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Slowly spinning around and looking entirely lost, he asked “But uh…which do we pick? There’s billions.”

He didn’t know much but he did know the answer to that. Or at least, what he thought a good answer was with his limited makeup knowledge. Or rather specifically, what he knew that his cousins died for. “Definitely MAC but we’d have to go to Macy’s for that. Only across the mall, I think.”

Nicolas could feel Sasha giving him a curious gaze for a minute but Nico acted as though he didn’t sense a thing as he put the lipstick back. Eventually, Sasha shrugged and replied “Okay, I guess. Macy’s we go.”

They stopped to grab each a smoothie before arriving at Macy’s and making a beeline for the makeup counter. Well, section was far more appropriate because it was far more than one counter. “Do they sell sets?” Sasha asked as he looked around. “That’d be way easier than putting something together.”

“I think you have to buy everything separately,” Nico murmured, completely engrossed in the prettiest shade of red lipstick he’d ever seen. “Maybe just get her a few things. Easy things like mascara and stuff. Picking things like foundation would be too hard because we’d have to worry about matching her skin tone.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sasha replied from the other side of the display. “Dude, I don’t know shit. I’ve no idea what the hell I’m doing or picking.”

“I don’t either but it can’t be that hard.” Picking up another shade of red but darker, Nico handed the lighter one to Sasha. “That lipstick; it’ll look really nice and pop out.”

Sasha shrugged and held onto it as his eyes flicked down to the one Nico was still holding. “And that one?”

Gnawing his lip, Nico shook his head softly and dropped it back where it belonged.

He was being ridiculous.

“She looks pretty in bright colors, the one I gave you is better.”

“Oh, that’s not- nevermind.”

Nico tried to ignore the pounding of his heart and the intense heat of Sasha’s gaze as he moved to the other side. He picked a liquid and pencil eyeliner before choosing two different types of mascara and moving to where the eyeshadow was. “I like Monique in purple,” he said to Sasha who came up behind him, “What do you think?”

“Purple, I guess? I really don’t know. Don’t pressure me,” Sasha laughed as he grabbed a bold purple eyeshadow palette. “Good?” The words hardly registered as his eyes glued in on a copper palette that was just gorgeous. “Nico?”

“Huh?”

Sasha’s hand was suddenly in view as he picked up the copper palette. “Is this one nicer?”

He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he yanked it out of Sasha’s hand and put it back. “No, purple for her. I was just looking.”

“Right…okay then. I guess we’re done?”

Giving one last glance at the pretty palette, Nico nodded and dragged Sasha away. “Yeah, yup, so done.”


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Aaaand we're back! Hola! I think I'm more in the headspace again so that's always good. Now, this chpt isn't particularly amazing but I did it and well, that's something to be proud of. We return to our regular Wednesday updates for the foreseeable future
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> _“Remember this when you hate me later and are crying.”_

“You want to grab some lunch?” Sasha asked as they passed the food court. After buying Monique her stuff, they’d hit up other stores because what was the point of going home? They might as well enjoy the day. Plus, with every item he managed to convince Nico to let him buy for him, his buddy looked a little less down. Obviously things weren’t going to fix a problem but they sure helped ignore the pain.

“Sure,” Nico nodded as he glanced at the shops they passed. “Hey, Sasha? Can I trust you with something?”

He looked at his bestie in surprise. “You know that you can trust me with anything.”

Nico laughed, shaking his head. “No, no, not what I meant. I know that I can, stupid, but I want you to pierce my nose for me. I need to trust you to jab a needle in my nostril.”

Sasha halted in his tracks in surprise. “You want me to pierce your _nose_?”

“Yup. No way my parents will sign the permission paper for me so we can just do it ourselves. I trust you.” When Sasha kept staring at him with round eyes, Nico snorted “C’mon, Sasha, all you have to do is disinfect and heat a needle and shove it in. Everyone does it. I’ve watched the vids. We can go pick out a ring today, right?”

He was definitely still lost in his surprise but fuck him if he was going to ruin his bestie’s mood. Wrapping an arm around Nico’s shoulders, he dragged them back in the direction of that one store where people always got their ears pierced. “Yeah, yeah, we can. A ring or a stud?”

“Nah, a ring. It’ll make me sexier.”

“I already think you’re sexy.”

“You’re my bestie, love, you have to say that.”

Abruptly steering them out of the way of a lady and her stroller, Sasha snorted “See? I knew you always lied to me about my looks.” Nico opened his mouth, looking kind of annoyed, but Sasha cut him off. “Chill, babe. Anyways, you realize that your parents are gonna notice right?”

Putting on a stoic face, he replied “I can make my own choices, Sasha.”

“Uhuh,” he laughed, narrowly missing a couple. “That’s what you say-”

“Sasha?”

They both froze in place and shared a wide-eyed glance before turning around slowly to face the couple they’d narrowly passed.

If only they’d entirely passed them.

Clearing his throat and trying to understand why the fuck he was so nervous because he totally had no reason to be, Sasha smiled shakily at Viktor and Hanna. Why of all days did these two need to go to the mall? “Uh, hi, guys.” Nico gave a weak wave as his contribution to the greeting. “What’re you guys up to?”

Viktor looked confused in finding Sasha here, which, why wouldn’t he be being that it was a school day but answered nonetheless “We haven’t gotten to check out any of the malls yet and Hanna thought we’d see this one.”

Damn that Barbie Bitch.

“Ah. Well, we-”

“What are you two doing here? It’s not only a school day but you guys are alone too?”

Obviously. Who took an adult with them? They were almost fourteen, thank you. They didn’t need someone to hold their hands. “Baba knows we’re here,” Sasha muttered defensively. “We wouldn’t go anywhere without telling her or Nic’s parents. We’re not stupid.”

Nodding like there was any reason to freaking nod, Viktor sighed as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. Sasha literally saw him swallow the lump in his throat before he removed his hands and smiled patiently back at them. “Why don’t we go find a table and talk for a little?”

Sasha and Nico shared another glance, each one asking the other what they should do. Taking the lead because he usually was the one who did that and it was _his_ father anyways, Sasha said “We were…I mean…” sighing and giving in to that patient stare, Sasha mumbled “Can you meet us there? Near the food court. Me and Nico want to stop at this one store first.”

The older man looked so relieved that Sasha wondered if he thought that he’d be rejected. Maybe he should’ve just rejected him. Damn, missed opportunities. He hadn’t even realized that it was an option. “Yeah, that’s fine. We’ll grab a table. Don’t take too long on us, please.”

They nodded together before spinning back around and walking off. “Fuck,” Sasha sighed quietly under his breath. “I just…don’t know how to act around him.”

Looping his arm in Sasha’s, Nico replied “You just have to take it little by little, you know that.”

“I know but easier said than done, dude, easier said than done.” He halted them in front of Claire’s and looked to Nico. “Want to just try here? They definitely have to have some.”

“Sounds good,” Nico said with a shrug, leading the way in. “I want something silver but simple. Just a regular ring, nothing fancy.”

Sasha walked into the…very girly looking store and went straight for the jewelry. He wasn’t insecure about his masculinity, he flirted with Nico all the time, for God’s sake, but for some reason, shopping for makeup didn’t make him feel as awkward as walking into this purple store did. Maybe because there were just so many girls.

He was going to tough this out though.

“So your typical run of the mill nose ring.”

“Yup,” Nico replied, looking at a set in his hand. “Like this one.”

Walking over, he took a look. “I thought you don’t want studs.”

“It’s a set,” Nico snorted like _duh_ , “Rings and studs. Now come on, we gotta hurry up, we left Viktor and Barbie Bitch waiting and that’s just rude.”

“I hadn’t realized that we’re above being rude.”

Laughing as he bounced to the cash register, Nico replied “No, no we are not but the faster we finish with them, the faster we get to pierce my nose.”

 

 

“…and you do well in school?” Viktor asked before eating his forkful of noodles. Apparently, the man was a fan of Chinese food. Not that Panda Express counted as real Chinese food. Compared to the actual real stuff, especially this one place Sasha got food from, Panda was bullshit. “Do you have a favorite subject?”

“I do good,” Sasha nodded, still surprised that conversation with Viktor was only about mundane things. The man hadn’t asked at all about why Sasha and Nico had ditched on a school day. Or maybe this was his segue into it? Possibility. “A’s and B’s although when I actually apply myself, it’s all A’s.”

“A- _pluses_ ,” Nico clarified, and Sasha felt a little glow of warmth in his chest from the pride in his friend’s voice. Pointing his fork at Viktor, he added “My bestie’s a genius when he actually bothers trying. But he’s also a lazy butt which is why he rarely bothers trying.”

“Where’s the lie,” Sasha laughed before taking a bite of his hero sandwich. Roast beef was fucking bomb, thank you. “And my favorite is English.”

“But he hates reading,” Nico threw in.

Seriously, where was the fucking lie. He knew it legit made no sense whatsoever to love English and yet hate reading but in his mind, it made complete utter sense. “The ironies of me.”

“That is a little odd,” Viktor admitted with a smile and a sip of his juice. “And being lazy isn’t exactly going to get you anywhere, you know. If you know you have the smarts, why not aim higher? Are you in the honors program at school? I have no doubt that you’d qualify.”

Viktor wasn’t going to like this answer. “They actually put me in it but…I told them to switch me back. I wanted to stay with Nic in our classes.” Viktor opened his mouth but Sasha quickly carried on, “Which, yes, I know is pretty stupid but let’s be real. He wouldn’t pass anything without me.”

“Jerk,” Nico choked out on his mouthful of soda. Coughing for a second before getting his throat cleared out, he snorted “That’s such a lie. Sasha sucks at Spanish. I’m a bit of a pro.”

“Wow,” Sasha couldn’t help but deadpan. “One class. Real nice, Nic. And you’re no pro, you made us take Spanish for-” Nico slapped his hand on Sasha’s mouth and gave him the deadly glare of ‘don’t you dare.’ Sasha had said this joke a million times but it had completely passed his mind that Viktor was not the type to make this joke around. “Okay, okay,” Sasha said once he removed his buddy’s hand, “my bad.”

“So let’s get serious here for a second,” Viktor said, clasping his hands together on the table and, yes, looking quite serious. “Why are you two not in school?”

Through his whole span of ordering food, sitting down, eating, and having conversation, Hanna just scrolled through her phone, completely ignoring. But suddenly, with the proposition of this question, suddenly, the bitch had a voice. “They’re ditching, obviously. Don’t be daft, Viktor.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to mock her but he didn’t feel like everyone getting angry in the middle of the mall. “It’s not ditching if my grandma knows we’re here.”

“She should know better.”

“Don’t insult my grandmother,” Sasha snapped, forgetting entirely about his plan for them not to get angry with one another. He’d fucking rip the world apart for his grandmother; she was worth getting angry for. “You can’t judge or make assumptions when you have no clue what she’s even like.”

“I had a math teacher,” Nico started with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, “that always said you’re an ass if you assume. Don’t assume, miss.”

Viktor didn’t look angry per se but he didn’t look happy either. But Hanna overrode him easily, not even giving him the chance to speak as she glanced up from her phone with a haughty look. “And they say children should be seen, not heard. Your mouth opens quite a lot, sweet thing.”

“I am not your sweet thing,” Nico snorted as he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms while raising one of those impeccable eyebrows he’d been born with. “Only my mom gets to call me stupid nicknames. And Sasha. Sometimes my dad when he’s feeling overly weird.”

“Oh…fuck,” Sasha whispered, feeling his eyes open wide as he caught sight of a certain woman walking into the mall. They may have gotten permission from baba – who was on Nico’s emergency card – but Sasha had no clue if his grandmother had called and told or not. “Nic.”

“Hmm?” Nico hummed in questioning, following his gaze towards the doors. “Ohhhh boy. You think baba called by any chance?”

His father and stepmother turned their heads to look but they had no clue what or who they were supposed to be looking at. Both he and Nico kind of slouched behind the table, praying and hoping that Mrs. Shvets would keep- “Boys?”

Yeah, of course not.

Nico slowly slid back up, a big smile on his face like everything was totally chill. “Hiya, mama.”

“Mrs. Shvets,” Sasha greeted, smiling but not as nice and convincing as Nico was. “Shopping today? Mall sure is busy, huh?”

Crossing her arms and looking very very unamused, Nico’s mom asked “What are you two doing here? My memory still actually works well and I know for a fact that today happens to be a school day.”

Snapping a finger gun at his mom with a smile, Nico said “Actually, it’s a Satur-”

“Nicolas.”

“We may or may not have…ditched. But with approval!” Nico added quickly at the end when his mom’s face turned very dark. “Baba knows! We told her before we came and she spoke to the school aaaand I just assumed she’d tell you too. Yeah.”

“Really,” Mrs. Shvets snorted in disbelief and thank God it was true because at least they wouldn’t get in trouble for lying. “You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true,” Sasha nodded as if his nod would make a difference. “We went but then we left and we told baba and she knows we’re here. Swear. You can call and ask; she’ll totally tell you.”

Looking mightily fierce with her ponytail and plaid shirt, Mrs. Shvets replied with a dry dry laugh “Oh trust me, I will. You two are always getting up to things, it’s a wonder I have hair on my head. And why did you guys leave exactly?”

Sasha looked to his friend who was biting his lip beside him. It was up to him how much they were to say. When his friend just kept biting and looking downer and downer by the second, Sasha nudged him softly in the shoulder with his own shoulder. “Nic?”

Dropping his head down to look at his fingers that were practically trying to break each other, Nico said softly “They were bullying me again. I…didn’t want to stay. It was too much to handle.”

Mrs. Shvets went from horrified to pissed to concerned all in the span of a second, her face softening as she squeezed between their table and the one behind them to reach her baby. Hugging him to her chest, she kissed the top of his head and whispered “Oh, sweetie, you should have told me. Nicolas, love, you’re beautiful the way you are, okay? You know that, right?”

Wiping away a stray tear that broke Sasha’s heart with a shaky hand, Nico laughed brokenly “I know, Sasha tells me like all the time. I’m sexy too. Did you know that? Your boy is thee sexiest. Sasha said so.”

Both he and Mrs. Shvets laughed although a quick glance to Viktor revealed him to be uncomfortable. Which was better than disgusted but maybe he was just hiding that in front of Nico’s mother. “I do know that,” Mrs. Shvets laughed, kissing her son’s head again. “I prefer to say handsome but to each his own. You look particularly handsome today being all dressed up.”

“I was trying to be passive aggressive. I don’t even think it worked. It just made everyone mean.”

“Passive aggressive to who?”

Okay, so this was a serious heartfelt moment and all but Sasha couldn’t help the smirk that grew on his face as Nico blushed super hard. “Um, no one.”

“Really.”

She sounded as disbelieved as she did when they said baba knew where they were. Looking at Sasha, she asked “No one?”

“Aw, Mrs. Shvets,” Sasha laughed, “you can’t do that! I don’t sell out the bestie for no one.”

Nico slipped out of his mother’s arms and fist pumped. Goddamn it. This Jersey wannabe. “See? That’s why he’s my bestie. We don’t sell secrets around here. But he totally bought makeup so he can ask out his unofficial girlfriend today.”

“You jackass!” Sasha exclaimed in angry good humor because, really, he just was bad at being angry in general, especially when it came to Nico. “Don’t make me, I’ll do it.”

His bestie’s face dropped as his eyes narrowed evilly. “Don’t you dare. I got years-worth of secrets on you, Sasha. Don’t test me, boy. I’ll take you dooooowwwwn.” Nico pointed down at the floor with an assured face. “Down, babe.”

“Who’s this girl?’ Viktor asked, probably finally feeling like this was a part of the conversation he could take a part of, which Sasha thoroughly disagreed with. “What’s she like?”

Glaring at Nico while fighting back a blush, Sasha just shrugged. “Um…I go to school with her. Baba’s met her and likes her too so I got my angles covered.”

“Smart,” Viktor laughed as he stood and held out his hand to Nico’s mom. “Viktor Borysov, Sasha’s father.”

Mrs. Shvets looked non too please in meeting him. And why would she when she saw what the custody case was doing to baba? But still, she accepted his hand in her politeness. “Julia Shvets. Nicolas’ mom, nice to meet you.” She stuck her hand to Hanna, “You must be Hanna then?”

Hanna looked surprised as she took the hand and shook it. “Uh, yes, I am. How’d you know?”

Putting on the smug air that she used when she was being the tough as hell Paralegal Shvets, she replied “My husband and I are helping in making sure that you don’t take away Sasha from the very stable home of the woman who raised him.”

“Such a burn,” Nico whispered to Sasha, both of them looking at Mrs. Shvets in a bit of an awe. She legit _never_ called him Sasha. For her to do it now?

Damn.

Viktor was entirely unruffled, his feathers nice and smooth. This man was supposed to be one of those rich bankers who knew how to make all the deals, so Sasha wasn’t surprised at his lack of emotion or at least, his lack of showing it. “I hardly think this is a suitable place to discuss such a delicate and sensitive topic. Such an important one. Nor do I think our audience is suitable.”

“Sasha’s not a baby; he deserves to understand what’s happening.”

“I didn’t say he was,” Viktor clarified, still at ease. “But there’s no point in confusing him until all our details are smoothed out. And the mall is not the place to straighten them.”

Placing a hand on each of their shoulders, Mrs. Shvets leaned between Sasha and Nico. “We’ll talk about the ditching later. Off you two go. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“But what about,” Nico started, only to stop with a glance from his mom. Looking between Viktor and his mother and then to Sasha, his buddy shrugged. “Okay I guess.” He leaned towards Sasha and whispered “Let’s go stab my nose.”


	19. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> _“I would’ve thought that you’d been told by now. Your grandmother hasn’t mentioned it?”_

“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Sasha muttered to himself as he set up stuff in the bathroom. Was he really going to stab his friend, watch the blood and the pain, and then shove a nose hoop in? Sasha shivered a little. “How’d I get talked into this…”

The video made it seem easy enough. And Sasha had made sure to watch it and like fifty others a million times over because he was so not fucking this up. He just had to do it quick and clean and they’d be fine. Then everything was on Nico’s shoulders with making sure he did proper aftercare and that he didn’t throw Sasha under the bus to his parents.

Yup, everything would be totally fine.

“Ready?” Nico asked excitedly, bouncing into Sasha’s large bathroom with excitement. “God, this is gonna be so cool!”

“And painful.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m trying to look at the positives, jerk,” Nico snorted as he closed the toilet and plopped down onto it. He was rubbing his hands in supposed excitement but Sasha knew that it was from his nerves. “I’m not worried; I trust my man.”

This would be a bad time for Sasha to tell him that he was nervous, wasn’t it? Probably, yeah. “Thank God baba went out, yeah? We can’t have her hearing you squeal.”

“I won’t squeal!”

 _I would_. But he wasn’t going to say that out loud. Not a chance. Taking a deep breath, he checked over his things again. “I can do this.”

Nico ran a nervous hand through his hair which always grew faster than Sasha’s. For some reason, he wasn’t eager to get it cut yet. It wasn’t long like it had been but it definitely was more than a four. “I…really hope so,” he laughed nervously. “Let’s do this, bae.”

“Right, okay, lemme go get an ice and I’ll be right back.”

“Sure thing,” Nico said, picking up the thick needle Sasha had picked out for this special occasion. Thin would do no good so Sasha picked the thickest he could find in his grandmother’s sewing kit.

It was daunting for sure.

As he was pulling out the ice tray from the freezer, the doorbell rang. It wouldn’t be Viktor because he knew that he wasn’t allowed around right now but Sasha was a little worried it’d be Ismael looking for Nic. Or hey, maybe it was Monique? He was supposed to have gone to her but he’d gotten caught up in this whole piercing thing. “Coming!” he called as he grabbed an ice, wrapping it in a napkin, before returning the ice tray and closing the freezer.

When he opened the door, he was both happy and disappointed.

Yay.

“Hey!” Monique said with such a cheer that he couldn’t find himself being upset anymore at seeing Ismael’s stupid face. “I figured I’d make it easy on you and just show up.”

Sasha couldn’t help but laugh at that. Her eagerness was a very very good sign. But he didn’t have the time to appreciate it right now being that he had a melting ice cube in his hand. “I appreciate it. C’mon before my ice melts.” He shot a glare at Ismael who just made an unimpressed look as he squeezed his way in after Monique, “You’re lucky I’m busy right now. I’ll deal with you later.”

“The fuck is that even supposed to mean,” Ismael snorted as he slipped off his shoes. He glanced around but he didn’t find who he was looking for. “Nicolas here?”

Saving his anger for later, Sasha led them upstairs to his room. “Come on.”

“What’re you guys up to?” Monique asked, following him into his room and taking a look around. “Ooh, I love your room. It’s huuuge. And you have your own bathroom? I’m so jealous.”

Nico glanced up from reading the bottle of alcohol – boredom did that to you – as they walked into the bathroom, smiling at Monique. The smile fell a little at seeing Ismael and Sasha wasn’t going to lie and say that that little action didn’t make him feel hella good. “Hey guys. How was school?”

Monique took in everything laid out in front of her. “Omg, you guys, what’re you piercing?”

“My nose,” Nico said triumphantly like he wasn’t going to cry in a few minutes. “I want a ring.”

“Oh my God,” Monique said with wide eyes, “you’re crazy. It’s gonna hurt, you know that, right?”

Putting on a stoic face while taking a deep breath, Nico sat up straighter on the toilet. “I can take it,” his gaze flicked to the thick needle, “Nooo problem.”

“Alright, well, make your choice now because the ice is melting and my hand is frozen,” Sasha cut in to what was going to be a long conversation. “Yes or no?”

Eyes wide and suddenly looking very indecisive, Nico grabbed the needle quickly and handed it over. “Before I lose my nerve.”

“Remember this when you hate me later and are crying,” Sasha laughed even though he was nervous as hell. He’d been really hoping that Nico would chicken out. Handing him the ice, he said “Hold it against the nostril you want so we can numb it.”

With his leg tapping nervously, Nico pressed the ice to his right then, changing his mind, his left. “I can so do this,” he nasally huffed with courage while Sasha slipped on some gloves and sanitized the needle. “Totally.”

“You don’t sound very confident.”

“Shuttup. Just do your job.”

Sasha really wished that he didn’t have to. Monique was leaning on the sink beside him, watching his hands as he made sure the needle and ring were extra clean. He was so not going to give Nico and infection. “Titanium, right? That’s the best.”

Him and Nico shared a glance before they both laughed and shrugged. “No clue.”

Monique rolled her beautiful eyes at them. Even Ismael did like he knew a thing about piercings. “You could’ve got fake ones until you were ready,” she sighed with a shake of her head. “You’re crazy.”

“Probably,” Nico laughed. Taking the ice off his nose and gingerly pressing on his nostril, he notified “I think I’m numb enough. Let’s do this. Hurry before my nose loses its numbness and my nerves lose their bravery.”

Burning the needle, extra showily but he’d never admit to it, Sasha took a deep breath and turned to his bestie. “You positive?” Nico nodded hurriedly, his hands grasping his thighs tightly. “Do you want something to hold?” Another quick nod. “Ismael, get your ass over here.”

That broke Nico’s panicked façade as he laughed. Sasha didn’t think he’d actually do it but Ismael shouldered his way in past Sasha and took a seat between the toilet and the shower, holding out his hand with a blank look. Nico blinked for a second before shrugging and tightly grasping the hand. “Fuck, dude, you’re gonna break my hand and he hasn’t even stabbed you yet,” Ismael griped.

“Shush,” Nico whispered as he sat up straight, “support is supposed to be silent.”

“Seen not heard,” Sasha chimed, remembering Hanna’s words. He wondered if he’d manage to wiggle something out of Mrs. Shvets. Would she tell him anything? She seemed to think he should know what was going on. “Turn your head. Cleaned your nose? Inside and out.”

“Yup.”

“Ohh-kay,” Sasha murmured under his breath, leaning over Nico while carefully checking out his nose. Holding out his buddy’s nostril, he rested the needle against it and said “Three, two…”

And he stabbed. He wasn’t going to wait for one; that’d just make Nic anticipate it.

There was some funny sounding internal groaning and Ismael’s face was looking pained but otherwise, Nico said nothing as Sasha pushed all the way through to the inside, pulled it almost out before pushing it back in to make sure he went all the way. Once he pulled the needle all the way out to a pained whisper of ‘motthheer-fucker,’ Sasha cleaned with the alcohol-soaked q-tip before accepting the ring from Monique and carefully putting it in. “And done! How you feeling?” There was a sniffle, so Sasha grabbed a tissue and dabbed his bestie’s nose for him. “Would this be a bad time to say ‘I told you you’d cry?’”

Nico laughed, a shit ton of pain in that laugh, while shaking his head. “I’m…good. Totally.”

“Well, let’s see,” Monique said as she scooted closer, draping herself on Sasha even though she was at least five inches shorter, “Turn.”

Wiping away little tears before turning to face them, Nico put a pained smile on his face. But his eyes were happy so that had to count for something. “Well? Do I look sexiful?”

“So very sexiful,” Sasha laughed as he dragged his bestie to face the mirror. “Now, what do you think?”

Leaning over the counter to be closer to the mirror, a huge smile grew on Nico’s face as he angled it to the piercing. “Oh I look fiiiiine. Man, this would’ve completed my outfit so nicely today.”

This seemed to grab Ismael’s attention as he suddenly got to his feet and looped an arm around Nico’s waist. Tugging him with him, Ismael said “You and me gotta talk.”

Sasha almost followed because he still had those words he wanted to get out but Monique grabbed his arm and gave him a huge smile. “Soooo…?”

“Uh…” Sasha replied in confusion, “What?”

She rolled her eyes and said “You were going to ask…?”

“Ask about what?” He didn’t remember any pressing- “Oh!” Duh. Suddenly embarrassed with his flushed face burning like hell, he grasped her hand and walked her to his bed, sitting her down on it before spinning back around to grab the bag with her stuff in it. Clearing his throat from the thicket of nerves stuck in it, he smiled and held out the bag. “For you.”

Smiling with excitement burning in her gaze, Monique accepted the bag and set it on the bed beside her. To his surprise, she didn’t bother looking inside, instead settling for smiling back at him. “Ask first. I don’t get bribed with gifts.”

Laughing and feeling much more confident, Sasha asked “Should I get down on one knee?”

“Well, it couldn’t hurt,” she snorted in amusement, that glorious smile branded on her face. It was like his whole world lit up with that smile.

God, he was already turning cheesy.

“Ahem,” he began with a very serious face, making her laugh, as he kneeled down in front of the most beautiful girl ever, “Monique…uh…PlaceLastNameHere,” she laughed even harder, her nose scrunched and her eyes practically closed, “will you do me, Sasha Prokopenko, the honors of being my loving beautiful girlfriend? Until immature high school teenage angst might do us part?”

Taking his hands softly in hers and failing at making her own serious face, Monique replied “Yes. And do you, Sasha Prokopenko, take me, Monique PlaceLastNameHere,” Sasha laughed so hard that he covered his face with his hands, “who actually knows how the whole ‘I do’ thing is supposed to go, as your girlfriend? Until immature high school teenage angst might do us part?”

“I do,” Sasha nodded, taking her hands in his, though he couldn’t manage the serious face anymore, pure joy overriding any possible other feelings.

“You may kiss the girlfriend!”

Sasha flipped off Nico, who was standing in his doorway with fists raised to the sky, before leaning in and tilting his head up, catching Monique’s mouth with his.

“You may stop kissing the girlfriend now!” Nico laughed, bouncing in and suddenly behind Sasha, his arms wrapped around Sasha’s neck. “You hungry dog, you.”

Dropping back his full weight, successfully pinning Nico down in the process, Sasha snorted “I am not a dog. You, on the other hand, are like a little chihuahua.”

Nico was struggling underneath him, coughing every time he shifted. “Bestie, you’re killing me.”

“I know.”

“Then get off,” Nico tried to laugh but it didn’t exactly work with half of Sasha squishing down on his chest. “I don’t wanna die yet.” When Sasha didn’t bother moving, Nico sighed and from the corner of Sasha’s eye, he saw his buddy turn his head towards Monique. “So, you like your gifts? Me and Sasha picked them. Anything you don’t like, Sasha totally picked. My taste is too bomb to dislike.”

“Pft,” Sasha cut in with an eyeroll before he watched Ismael make his way over and drop down beside Monique. “I didn’t pick anything; I’ll admit it. I looked like a fucking koi fish in a tar pit in the makeup aisle.”

“Love the simile,” Nico said while pulling Sasha’s ear. He probably thought that if it bugged Sasha enough, he’d get up.

Ha. Yeah right.

“Nic picked and I just agreed.”

Monique was rifling through the bag, pulling out the few things they’d gotten. It wasn’t much, he knew that, but he didn’t want to overdo it either. She held up the lipstick, her eyes raptured. “Oh, I love this color. And M.A.C? I cannot afford that.”

“I knew the color was a winner,” Nico said triumphantly, probably doing a floor fist pump like the fool he was. “Sasha was gonna go darker but I told him no.”

“No, you had two in your hands and were reluctant to let go of the darker one.” He didn’t add the rest of his sentence, his bestie probably not wanting to start that conversation in front of people. “I didn’t say anything; I trust your color expertise.”

“That’s stereotyping, babe,” Nico laughed – more coughed but same thing – “the gay guy knowing his colors. Ruuuuude.”

“Hey, so…” Monique started, a careful tone now in her voice as she set everything back in the bag. “Are you going to go back tomorrow? I think you should talk to a teacher about the bullying.” Nico fell silent, his breaths stuttering beneath Sasha. He couldn’t really see his face but he knew that Nico wasn’t meeting anyone’s eyes. “Seriously, Nicolas, you need to tell.”

“School has less than a month to go,” he mumbled, the words so soft that even Sasha barely caught them, “It’s whatever. I just…won’t do anything to make them want to bug me.”

The fuck? Sitting and narrowing his eyes at his bestie, he asked “What’s that supposed to mean? And plus, you said it yourself, we’re literally going to be in the same school with the same people next year. If you don’t-”

“I just won’t dress gay, it’s not a big deal, Sasha.”

Sasha already knew it wasn’t Nico’s idea even if he hadn’t seen the sadness and reluctance on Nico’s face as he stared at his hands. Without even bothering to turn around, Sasha didn’t need to snap but the threat and angry was easy to find in his voice. “Ismael, get the fuck out of my house.”

Nico’s head flew up in surprise, his mouth open like he was going to say something but nothing came out. It sure came out of Ismael’s mouth though. Though, Sasha still didn’t bother turning around. “Excuse you? The fuck is your fucking-”

“Get. Out. Of. My. House,” Sasha hissed, finally flipping around and getting to his feet. It wasn’t daunting to Ismael who was also tall but it relatively evened the playing field. “Take your stupid ass ideas and get out of my house. It’s pretty simple.”

“Sasha,” Nico interrupted with a wavering voice. “It-”

“It’s his idea, I’m not stupid.” Jabbing a finger into Ismael’s chest – who’d now stood with anger blistering his face – Sasha said “Get out. He’s gay and he doesn’t have to change himself for idiotic mean shits. If he wants to fucking dress as fucking ‘gay’ as he likes, then instead of standing there while everyone tries to ridicule him, you beat the shit out of them. You don’t tell him to change.”

“I didn’t say shit,” Ismael snorted, his arms crossed, “maybe you shouldn’t assume you know everything.”

Yeah, okay, and Sasha loved his mother. “Get out. Seriously, fuck off before I break your face.”

“As if you could,” Ismael laughed, looming just a touch closer. “Go on, I dare you.”

Honestly, Sasha just might have tried but Nico was suddenly between them, a hand on each of their chests. “Stop,” he said, just a peek of annoyance glistening in his eyes, “this is seriously stupid. I’m not some damsel who freaking needs men to defend his honor.”

Sasha wanted to snap that he wouldn’t be if he didn’t seem to always bend over for Ismael no matter what stupid things he did but he clamped his jaw shut. “I want him out. House rules are my rules and I’m using them right now.”

Turning to face Ismael who was still incredibly high strung in pissed world, Nico softly grasped his sides and stood on his tip toes, pressing a kiss to Ismael’s cheek. “I’ll see you later, ‘kay?”

Ismael just barely dragged his furious gaze from Sasha, his eyes turning blank as he looked down at Nico. “So you’re taking his side.”

“I’m not taking sides,” Nico replied, confusion lacing his words, “I’m just trying to keep the peace. I don’t like fighting, especially if I have to get stuck in between.”

“I think we all just need to cool off,” Monique added, looking hopeful that she was helping. Nico seemed to think so because he spared her a quick glance with a nod. “And then move on. So not worth fighting about.” Completely changing the subject, she smiled sweetly at Sasha and patted the bed beside her. “Come sit. I love everything you guys picked,” she laughed as Sasha reluctantly went to sit after a mutual glare with Ismael, “Or, Nico picked.”

“ _My_ dude’s got taste,” Sasha said, emphasizing ‘my’ to piss off Ismael who was already completely pissed off. “That’s why he always looks fab when he’s _all dressed up._ ”

“Sasha,” both Nico _and_ Monique snapped in irritation. Nico grabbed Ismael’s hand and dragged him to Sasha’s oversized beanbag chair that was actually shaped like a giant chair instead of the typical beanbag, pushing him down. His plan had probably been just to keep distance between Sasha and Ismael because he looked like he was about to walk away but Ismael grabbed his wrist and yanked him down into his lap.

Whatever. Sasha ignored the smug challenge in Ismael’s eyes like he’d won something. It wasn’t a competition; if Ismael wasn’t such an ass, Sasha wouldn’t have a problem with them.

But he was an asshole.

So he had a problem.

Hopefully he’d find a good solution soon.


	20. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thanks to my lovely readers and beta and all those who hit the kudos button and the occasional commenter
> 
> I feel like my Proko groove is slowly coming back so the story will start picking up soon ;)  
> Enjoy
> 
> _“It feels like I’m cheating.”_

“It’s been more than a month,” Viktor said, oh so sure of himself, “I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to be here now.”

“I mean…yeah,” Sasha replied as he stared, completely dumbfounded, at Viktor just sitting there on the stoop. “Uh, hi.”

“Hi,” Viktor smiled as he got up and instead of going for a handshake, he dragged Sasha into a _hug_. Sasha was so shocked that he was just a frozen nothing in Viktor’s strong arms. Was it weird that he was memorizing the man’s smell? It was a nice cologne, that had to be why. He wasn’t trying to register what it felt like to be hugged by his father or anything like that.

Nope.

“How are you?” Viktor asked once he broke off the embrace. “Doing well? Can I come in?”

So many questions and way too much pressure on his brain. “Uh, um…” Honestly, he didn’t even know if Viktor was allowed inside or not. Would baba be upset? “Can…we just hang here on the stoop?” That had to be safe. No angry grandmas, please. “Is that okay?”

Viktor smiled softly like he knew where Sasha’s mind had gone. And, hey, he’d met baba so maybe he actually did. “Sure. That’s perfect.” Plopping himself back in his spot, he patted the floor beside him. “Sit, sit.”

He sat. Sasha wasn’t really sure how he was feeling about this. It was everything he’d dreamed of – just having the chance to sit with the man who’d fathered him – but he knew baba wouldn’t like it. Viktor had made things a little tricky with the custody case. Sasha still knew nothing but with the passing days, baba seemed to become nervous like she was expecting something. “Um…how are you?”

“I’m good, good. Not going to lie, I do miss being home but it could be just because I haven’t seen your brothers and sister in practically two months.”

His brothers and sister. So fucking weird, dammit. “Sorry.”

Surprise flickered onto Viktor’s face. “Whatever for? You have no reason to be. So…I hope the pressure of the upcoming court date isn’t too much on you?”

Time slowed and Sasha’s heart stopped along with it. The upcoming what? Baba wouldn’t…wouldn’t she tell him about that? For fuck’s sake, it directly affected him. She’d tell him, wouldn’t she? “The…case?”

“You…haven’t been told about it?” Viktor said in surprise. “I would’ve thought that you’d been told by now. Your grandmother hasn’t mentioned it?”

He didn’t want to make baba look bad by answering to the negative but he was too surprised to manage a convincing lie either. “Oh, uh, um…”

“It’s nothing major yet,” Viktor said quickly, like he was hoping the reassurance would stave off any panic on Sasha’s part. “We’re just establishing basic facts for review. That’s all.”

Establishing facts? Did that include them finding out that baba had had that heart attack? Wouldn’t that look bad like she was too ill to care for him? She wasn’t, she was so strong, but what if they didn’t understand that? What if they didn’t see it in the frail old woman? Or what if she happened to just catch a cold that day and it made her look bad?

There were just too many factors that had him worried. Too many ‘what ifs’ that had to be considered but there were no answers for. Probably wouldn’t be answers for.

Fuck his life.

“Oh,” he whispered, staring down between his knees at the cement. It’d been awhile since he’d hosed the stoop; maybe he’d do it tomorrow and invite Nic so they could play with the water. The humid summer heat was so fucking disgusting. Literally, sometimes it felt like all the pollution of the city stuck to his skin. Twenty showers in a day was never enough. A billion probably would never be enough.

“You…sound disappointed.”

There was no doubt in his mind that to a court a rich young healthy banker with six kids and a pretty wife and a home would look better than an old woman with a few health problems. Sure, they owned the brownstone but they’d probably say why hole him up in an old house with an old crow when there was the boy’s father and siblings?

It sure sounded like a losing battle.

“I’m fine,” Sasha said softly, unwilling to let Viktor in on his thoughts. “Establishing facts is important.”

“I agree,” Viktor replied but Sasha didn’t need to look at him to know that he was hardly paying attention to the words and more focused on figuring out Sasha. “I agree.”

Establishing facts would do nothing but take him from his home.

“I don’t speak Ukrainian,” he couldn’t help confess in worry. “I don’t think I’d do well in Ukraine.” Viktor didn’t respond but Sasha could feel the sharp burn of his gaze on him. Boring into him, trying to seek his feelings. His thoughts. His wishes. “I don’t know how to be an older brother. Sounds like too much pressure. What if I’m bad at? And…I don’t think Hanna likes me. I wouldn’t want to make her uncomfortable in her home. It’s hers, not mine.”

That seemed to capture Viktor’s words. “Any home of mine is just as much yours. You’re always welcome no matter what anyone says.”

“See? I’m already ruining your marriage. You should just give up on me.”

He wasn’t even aware that he had tears running down his face until he was suddenly in Viktor’s embrace, his dad holding him close.

It felt so _good._

‘You’re thinking much too far ahead,” Viktor murmured softly, running his fingers soothingly through Sasha’s hair. Mr. Shvets was a great guy and had more than once been the father figure Sasha needed in his life but this felt…different.

It felt right.

“I’m sorry that life brought us to meet in such a hard way and I’m sorry that things are hard right now and probably a little scary but we’re not rushing anything. We’re not going to make conclusions either, alright?” Sasha nodded against his father’s chest. “I don’t want you so worried. You’re supposed to be enjoying your summer, not fretting.”

“Not as easy as you think,” he whispered, not eager to move anytime soon. “I can’t help it.”

“You should be…thinking about your girlfriend or…swimming. Going to the beach. Fun things.”

Easy for this guy to say when he wasn’t the one who was probably going to be dragged out of the only home he’d ever known. “Yeah.”

“Did you have a cool birthday party?”

Sasha’s birthday had been a couple weeks ago. Now fourteen, he officially considered himself a teenager. Nico was totally jealous. His birthday still had another week to go. “I didn’t do a party.” Sasha hadn’t done that since he’d turned eight or nine. There was no point; he had friends but the only people he cared to have was Nico and baba. “I don’t usually. But baba made this awesome cake and Nico stuck like fifty candles on it like an idiot. Took _forever_ to blow those bitches out.”

“Language,” Viktor sighed, more sounding like he was doing it based on principle rather than actually chastisement. “Why fifty?”

“Because he’s a dork,” Sasha snorted in amusement, the image of Nico spending ten minutes sticking them on with complete concentration arising in his brain. “And Monique came too which was cool. I don’t really go crazy for birthdays honestly.” He had a feeling wouldn’t particularly care for what Sasha was going to say but if the man wanted to be a part of his life then he was going to have to learn to fit in, right?

Right.

“But we’re planning a party for Nic. It’s only his parents, me and baba, and then Monique is coming.” He wondered if Nico was going to invite Ismael or not. It’d totally give away the secret relationship to Nico’s parents but Ismael would be pissed if he didn’t get to come. “Maybe Ismael, I don’t know. But Mrs. Shvets ordered this really fancy cake from Nic’s favorite bakery and…” Sasha laughed, “I ordered twenty pounds of glitter.”

“Twenty…pounds of glitter…” Viktor trailed off, his hand having stopped its movements, clutching him close. “Why?”

“I’m making sure his party is totally gay. I found a place that lets you buy by the pound and I picked tons of colors. So now I’m very eagerly waiting for my six hundred dollar shipment of glitter. It’s gonna be so cool.”

“That’s a lot of glitter,” Viktor said carefully. Sasha knew that he wasn’t happy but at least he had the courtesy not to show it. “Who’s Ismael?”

“Nic’s secret maybe boyfriend. Secret because his parents don’t know and maybe because technically, Ismael hasn’t asked him out yet.” Viktor hummed. The man probably figured that was the safest answer he could give. “Anyways, I think I’m gonna buy Nico a phone and some other shit for his birthday. That way we each have one and can text at one in the morning about nothing.”

“Yeah, I heard that’s what all the cool kids are doing,” Viktor laughed, the vibrations of it soothing to Sasha. If this was what having a dad felt like…he wasn’t sure he’d ever want to give it up. He didn’t want to leave his grandmother but he wouldn’t mind having Viktor around. “I guess offering back the phone I got you is a no?”

“Don’t worry about it; I’ll just buy one. The bitch can pay for it.”

“The bitch?”

“Alexsandra. Your ex.”

“Oh, she’s hardly my ex,” Viktor snorted, actually sounding less like the poised man he played to be and more like just a normal guy. He didn’t even chastise Sasha about the language. “One night with a pretty ballerina was all it was. When you sent your letter, I got her number through people, not because I actually had it.”

Now that, that made Sasha feel lifetimes better. It’d always bugged him that Viktor had so easily called her up when Sasha didn’t even have her phone number. “I think I like you a little more right now.”

“Hmm,” Viktor hummed in amusement, tapping a finger on Sasha where his arms were still holding him close, “so the way to your heart is to insult her then? I can manage that.”

Laughing, Sasha turned his head to look up at the man who was his father. He seemed…like a nice guy. He seemed like the kind of guy Sasha would actually like to have as a father minus a few choice things. “Do you not like her?”

Viktor shrugged carelessly. “I don’t exactly know her to form a proper opinion. But just based on the fact that I never knew I had you is enough for me to be irritated from her. That’s something that I should’ve known the second she knew.”

“Well, she liked you enough to remember your name,” Sasha yawned as he sat up and stretched. He was surprised baba wasn’t home yet; it was evening already. “You must’ve made one hell of an impression.”

“Must have,” Viktor laughed, though his laugh finished pretty quick as he rose to his feet. Sasha glanced to where Viktor was looking and his stomach turned to jelly as baba walked over. He didn’t think she’d get upset but…it felt like Sasha had gone behind her back. “Titka.”

“Viktor,” she said, her voice so devoid of anything that Sasha, who knew her better than anyone, couldn’t tell what she was thinking. “How are you?”

Sasha bounced down the steps and grabbed her bag for her. “Hey, baba.”

Unlike with Viktor, a huge smile came on her face and she looped her arm through his and they walked up the stairs together. “Hello, my Sasha, how was your day?”

“Good. Me and Monique went and played basketball; she won…again.” Baba laughed as she unlocked the door and they walked in, Viktor ‘sneakily’ trailing in behind them. “And then we got milkshakes.”

“Was it a chocolate day?”

“Nah, strawberry.”

“Strawberry good.” She flicked a glance at Viktor who’d taken off his shoes and taken a seat on one of the couches. Totally looked at home. “Make sure you fluff pillows when you get up.”

Viktor glanced at her in surprise but then his mouth titled up in a happy surprise. They watched her go upstairs before Viktor laughed and said “I was waiting to be thrown out.”

“Yeah, that totally showed in the way you just got comfortable,” Sasha said after a huge yawn. “Would you like something to drink?”

Surprisingly, this domesticity wasn’t as weird as Sasha thought it’d be. He felt like he should be angrier or maybe resentful but all that came to mind was the way that Viktor had comforted him. Sasha had loved that feeling more than anything in the world. It was just the way a father would do it.

Just soo _right_.

“No, it’s alright, thank you. Come sit so we can talk more.”

 

 

“And we’re thinking of going to lunch together tomorrow,” Sasha said excitedly, totally feeling the father-son thing right now. When Viktor was relaxed and himself, it was just so perfect. “Cool, huh, baba?”

“Very,” baba murmured as she lay sleepily in her bed, Sasha having come intruding on her after Viktor had gone. It was nightly ritual unless Nico was over to have a night chat and talk about their days. “Very, very. But guard your heart, my Sasha. You must be careful.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m simply saying that watch his intentions. Maybe he just nice for now.”

A little rain dampened his blooming heart. Would Viktor do that? Maybe, yeah, but Sasha didn’t know him well enough to judge such a thing. “He seems genuine, baba.”

“Then let it be so. I’m just saying be careful, love. This is all.”

It’d be lie if he didn’t admit that he was feeling a little annoyed right now. He didn’t think Viktor was playing him. And if anything, at least he’d actually told Sasha about the court date. “When were you going to tell me about the court day? Viktor said it’s soon. Something about establishing facts and details? What’s he mean, baba?”

If baba was younger, she’d have shot up like nothing. However, she wasn’t, so it took her a minute to get her stiff muscles moving. “He told you.”

“Why didn’t you?” he asked, trying to keep his irritation out of his voice. She probably had her reasons. “You should’ve.”

“Aye, Sasha, I simply did not want you to worry.”

“I’d worry more just in the not knowing anything. I deserve to know; it’s my right to know. I _should_ know. That’s not fair, baba.”

She didn’t seem happy at having him knowing. Or maybe it was because he’d heard it from Viktor and not her. “It’s as he says; simple establishing facts. You needn’t worry. You don’t even need to be there. They just want to learn how we each live. Basics, Sasha.”

“How am I not supposed to worry?” Sasha snapped, his patience reaching its end. How was that fair? Had she not even been planning on telling him? “I’m going to worry being that I’m not stupid! I know that a home like his is more ideal! Stop acting like I don’t understand! I’m not fucking baby, baba!”

His grandmother’s eyes were wide and he wasn’t at all surprised by her reaction. He didn’t yell at her. Hell, he’d never wanted to yell at her. Never even had the urge. But Sasha hated that she seemed to think that it was okay to keep him out of the loop. As if the upcoming date was insignificant. “Love-”

“Mrs. Shvets says I should know what’s happening but you don’t tell me anything! That’s not fair!”

“Sasha,” his grandmother started with soft patience that just grated on his tired nerves right now. All his frustrations from the past couple months were tumbling off his shoulders. “I-”

“This all directly affects me!” he shouted, fully shouted, jabbing himself in the chest. “I’m the one who could very possibly lose everything, not you! I’m the one who’s going to get thrown out! I’m the one who should know what the fuck is going on!”

He wasn’t sure which of his words got to her, but she slid off the bed to her feet, all blazing anger that was enough to make her feel like she was bigger than him even though she wasn’t. “You are my everything! So if I lose you, where, Sasha, do you think I’ll be! I’ll die of heartbreak, that’s where! Dead, in the ground, Sasha!” Clutching his arms tight, the blaze turned to utter love as she said softly “My Sasha, I could live in hole and it would not matter to me as long as you are with me. I do not care for the money if it was not for you and I want good life for you.”

Pulling her into a tight hug before she caught his tears even though she was probably feeling the cries shuddering his chest, Sasha cried softly into her shoulder, not finding his words wherever there’d been lost. She rubbed his back soothingly, whispering soothing words where just the gesture was enough, Sasha not even caring what the actual words were.

He was her everything.

She was his.

That was what mattered.

“Baba always fixes, Sasha. Baba will fix this too, love, she will fix this too. She will fix.”

Never had he thought he’d be stuck in such a hard place. He wanted Viktor or at least the pleasing image they seemed to make as father and son but he wanted this grandmother and his life here too.

It wasn’t fair. Why did he have to choose? No, he had to be real here, it wasn’t him who had the opportunity of choosing. It was some old judge who was going to pick, someone who knew nothing about him or his grandmother or his life and was just going to look at some papers and decide. Make a choice about his life without actually knowing anything about it.

Just like that.

But baba always fixed things and she’d fix this too. They weren’t letting go of each other anytime soon.


	21. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoyyy
> 
> _“And I’m like ‘yeah, no shit, he’s fucking adorable. I’ll bring him next time so you can admire him from afar.’”_

Sasha had canceled with Viktor.

No lunch. No quality father-son time.

He hadn’t been up to it. Sasha just couldn’t bring himself to look at the man who’d caused him to yell at one of the two people he loved in this world. So instead – in almost a little rebellion – he was making plans with Nico on how to make his party even gayer. It sounded ridiculously petty but Nico loved the idea which was all the approval Sasha needed.

“I can get you a gay stripper if you want,” Sasha offered as he wrote it down on the ‘maybe’ half of the paper. “That’d be fun.”

“I’m turning fourteen, not twenty-one,” Nico laughed, resting his head on Sasha’s shoulder to watch him write. They were sharing the small wicker couch Nico’s family had on their fire escape. “But keep it on there just in case. You never know.”

“Your parents aren’t going to let us hang out anymore if they ever see this list.”

“They know how to take jokes, love, no worries. I want those big huge sparklers on my cake too. Write that on the ‘definitely’ side.” Sasha happily obliged. “And on the ‘would die for but probs not happening’ put ‘Ismael asking out.’”

“You gonna invite him,” Sasha murmured as he wrote it down, “He’d be pissed if you didn’t. Then it’d be the whole ‘well how do you know I wouldn’t have come???’ As if he’d actually come.” Nico hummed in thought then starting humming a song like he’d forgotten where’d he’d been in his head. Sasha decided to take the conversation from there. “I was supposed to have lunch with Viktor today.”

“Oh?”

“I canceled.”

“Why,” Nico asked as he grabbed his pen from beside himself and reached around Sasha to write a little ‘2’ on top of the gay stripper entry. Sasha laughed and Nico said “Everything’s better in multiples.”

“I got in a fight with baba last night.” His bestie’s head flew up in shock, his eyes and mouth literal perfect letter o’s. “And it’s not really his fault but…if this whole custody thing hadn’t come around, I wouldn’t be stressed and shit, y’know? So then I wouldn’t be yelling either.”

“True, very true…are you guys okay now?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Sasha said with a relieved nod. Thank God because if his grandmother had decided to be upset with him – well within her right – Sasha wasn’t sure he’d be able to take it. “And I got some news about custody.”

“Tell me more, bae.” The words themselves were that endearing sort of playfulness but Nico’s intention was fully serious. He wanted and needed to know as bad as Sasha did.

“Apparently there’s a court case coming up which is what I yelled at baba about because she didn’t say a word. It’s to establish facts or something. Both baba and Viktor said I don’t need to worry about it but…”

“You’re worried.”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, I’d probably smack you if you weren’t,” Nico snorted as he jotted down a few more things down on the list in the various sections. “I’m worried and if you weren’t? Something ain’t right, babe.”

“Yeah,” Sasha sighed, setting his head on his drawn up knees, staring down onto the street. He just wished his problems would disappear. When it had just been simple teenage itty bitty issues like a pimple or wishing he had a girl or whatever, life had been so much simpler. There were days where he sat and wished that he’d never reached out to Viktor in the first place but then there were days where he liked the fact of having an actual father. And if having a father was like yesterday…Sasha wished he could have that all the time. “It feels like I’m cheating.”

“What are we cheating?”

“Like when I like thinking about and hanging with Viktor, I feel like I’m cheating on baba.”

Nico have a him an unamused dry looking look like ‘seriously.’ “That’s just a tad stupid. I’m not cheating on my mom when I’m hanging with my dad or-”

“Yeah but your parents love each other and raised you together. It’s a little different when it comes to baba and Viktor. They only get along for my sake. They don’t even really know each other anyways. So it’s different.”

“Maybe you have a point,” Nico murmured as he mulled it over, rolling the pen between his fingers. “Hey, Sasha?”

“Love.”

“As a pretty manly dude…what would be a cool gift?”

Sasha stared at Nico in confusion, twirling his own pen between his fingers before it slipped and dropped down from the fire escape. They both blinked down at it sitting on the sidewalk but neither of them had the urge to go get it. “Maybe when your mom comes home she can grab it for us,” Sasha laughed, “Oh well.” Turning back to his bestie, he asked “Is there a reason we need to buy Ismael something? It’s your birthday coming up, not his, as far as I know.”

The only answer he received was a shrug and a blush.

He sighed in exasperation. “You put way too much effort for this guy.” Those words just seemed to dampen Nico’s mood so Sasha sighed again and offered “I noticed he’s a sneaker nerd like me. I don’t know what size he wears but that’s an idea.” The small smile growing on Nico’s face from Sasha giving in made him roll his eyes and continue. “And I noticed he wears those bracelets-”

“They’re special.”

Okay, well, at least they’ve had heart to heart talks. “Alright then give him your own special bracelet to wear to add to his wrist. That’d be better than shoes.”

“Maybe I can make like a special yarn bracelet? Is that a good idea?” Nico asked, unconsciously rubbing his nose ring. It was a habit he had now, his fingers naturally searching it out. His parents had freaked out when they saw it and even tried to silent treatment Nic but one little dopey ‘you know I look good’ smile and they were over it. They had been more worried about infection than anything else.

And when they’d found out _Sasha_ had done it?

Yeah, that was a whole other mess by itself.

“That could be nice,” he nodded, “His favorite colors or something. I think you should just invite him for the party just to see what he says.”

“But we should tell my parents first,” Nico laughed, throwing his feet up on the little table, “that way they don’t have a sudden surprise in their faces.”

“God, they’re gonna freak, man.”

 

 

Freak was an understatement.

“Is this where you guys usually meet?” Sasha asked curiously as they waited at a corner for Ismael. He knew they met up every few days or Ismael came to Sasha’s house to find Nico but Sasha hadn’t known that Nico didn’t even know where Ismael lived. “Shouldn’t you know his address? Just in case or whatever. Not that you have to go visit.” _Not that I’d want you to visit._

“He’ll come,” Nico said in full surety, not a doubt in his mind. “You’ll see.”

“I totally thought your dad was going to choke on his dinner yesterday.”

_“So…” Nico started nervously, “I’ve got something to tell you guys…?”_

_“Are you asking or telling,” Mr. Shvets laughed, taking a bite of his fish._

_Nico shared a glance with Sasha, maybe for nerves, before he blurted out all at once “I kind of have a boyfriend, uh, for the past maybe…more than month and I want to invite him to my party.”_

_Mr. Shvets barely swallowed in time before choking happened whole Mrs. Shvets jaw dropped, her fork almost to her mouth before she set it in her plate and took a deep breath. “Boyfriend?”_

_“Um…yeah.”_

_“Well, tell us more, don’t stop now.”_

_Sharing another glance with Sasha while gnawing on his lip, Nico wrung his fingers as he said “Uh, um, well…it’s umm…Ismael.”_

_Nico’s father looked a tad confused but Mrs. Shvets sure remembered that name. The face. The boy, to be exact. “Ismael.”_

_“Ye..ah…”_

_“The boy who beat you up.”_

_Shrinking into his seat, Nico whispered “It was a misunderstanding.” There was no halting Sasha’s snort. Nico glared at him because obviously that was so not going to help his case but Sasha couldn’t help it. A snort was very appropriate in the current situation. With a little more confidence, Nico added “He’s really sweet with me, you guys just have to see us together, promise.”_

“I’m surprised they haven’t locked me away in a tower to keep me pure,” Nico laughed, fluffing the little quiff he’d been working on lately. Sasha never thought he’d see the day where Nico actually tried something new for his hair. “Not that it’d work. I’d have you break me out.” His face brightened and his eyes glowed like fucking neon lights and Sasha had a feeling if he looked…

Yup, there he was.

“When the hell did Ismael start to look less preteen and more teen?” Sasha asked, though Nico was hardly paying attention as he bounced to his…boyfriend. He hadn’t seen the other boy in a while now that school had finished and he started spending more time with Monique.

When they kissed, like really really kissed, Sasha’s stomach surprisingly didn’t turn and his lip didn’t curl. Probably because he hadn’t heard Ismael speak yet and his body just hadn’t caught up to his mind’s dislike of the boy. It was weird seeing Ismael smile so sweetly and Sasha was starting to see the proof of the gazillion times Nico swore that Ismael was different when they were alone together.

But then Ismael saw Sasha.

And then he looked like Ismael again and Sasha’s lip curled.

“Sasha,” Ismael snorted in greeting as if that was actually an appropriate way to greet someone. “Been a while.”

Fuck, he even _sounded_ more teen than pre. This bastard. “Ismael.”

“So,” Nico started, entirely excited to pass the invitation on, as he tugged Ismael’s hand so he could pay attention to him instead of just glaring at Sasha, “I want to invite you.”

Eventually after enough tugs, Ismael turned and Sasha saw his face soften to its ‘Nico’ level. “To?”

“My birthday party. It’s in a week; you’ll come, right?”

Way to back him into a corner. Ismael scratched his head and looked torn. Sasha could imagine his thoughts easily. Please the boyfriend or meet the family. “Uh…I mean, if I can. I’ll try, yeah.”

“It’s summer,” Sasha snorted with an eyeroll. He may not like Ismael but he knew what his bestie wanted. “What the fuck do you have to do other than nothing?”

“Please?” Nico said, putting on his best kicked puppy look. “It’s not fair if Sasha gets to have Monique there and I don’t even have my boyfriend for my totally gay party. That totally doesn’t even make sense that straight boy brings the girl but gay boy doesn’t bring his boy.”

“I’ll be there,” Ismael all but sighed, the nerves showing on his face. “Uh…where? And who’s gonna be there?”

Sasha wasn’t sure what was brighter than the sun but that was what Nico’s face embodied. “Really? Promise?” Man, was he making sure Ismael couldn’t wiggle any which way. “And my place, duh, and just us. It may be a very big gay party but it’s literally just like,” he paused to count out everyone on his fingers, “seven people.”

“That…” Ismael said slowly, looking seriously wary, “would include your parents, wouldn’t it?”

“Well, duh.”

“They already know,” Sasha notified to put Ismael’s mind at ease. “We told them yesterday. His dad can’t wait to get a hold of you.”

Ismael practically paled and Sasha was so close to laughing. Nico threw a slap his way before saying to Ismael “In a nice way. Like, to talk. That’s all. My party is gonna be so cool, you gotta come. And my parents are totally not scary.”

“Your mom really knows how to glare,” Ismael muttered, a tinge of pink on his cheeks. “Bet your dad is worse.”

“Aw, Ismael, please?”

Sighing and resting his forehead on Nico’s after a glare at Sasha for ‘invading’ their moment, he whispered something so damn soft that Sasha couldn’t make out a word. But it made Nico blush and smile so it had to be a good thing. “When you two are done…”

“Rude, Sasha,” Nico laughed, looking way too pleased. “Don’t be jealous just ‘cause you haven’t seen your girl today and won’t for a few days.”

Fucking vacations. He really shouldn’t complain because it was only a few days at least. “Shut up before I kick your boyfriend in the balls.” He’d never cause his bestie direct harm.

However, he totally had no problems hitting Ismael.

“You sure you want to do that?” Ismael asked with an eyeroll. “Pretty sure you’d end up in pain and in tears and Nicolas wouldn’t talk to you again.”

“All that?” he couldn’t help but laugh. He was laughing with Ismael.

Ew.

“Yeah,” Ismael said in full seriousness. “Pain because I’ll hit you back which’ll also lead to crying and then Nicolas would be upset because you tried to break my balls which he has yet to enjoy.”

Literally, Sasha’s jaw dropped at the words.

Literally.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Nico muttered, his face burning so red that Sasha was waiting for it to burst with all the blood pressure running beneath the surface. “Oh my God.”

“Word of the wise,” Sasha said when he found his words, “don’t talk sex in front of his parents. One way trip to hate town. They probably would forgo all the manners they have and just throw you out. All the fucking way, man. He’s their baby.”

“This is the part where you say ‘he’s my baby too,’” Nico whispered for show, making sure the whole world heard the words too. “Like really should.”

“It’ll give him the serious blushy butterflies.”

“Serious.”

Rolling his eyes, Ismael dragged Nico into a hug that looked like it caused suffocation and murmured “He’s my baby too.”

Sasha nodded at the picture in front of him. “We might just make a decent boyfriend out of you yet.”


	22. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Alright so, if you don't know, I'm currently writing three (ok maybe four, you just don't know it) stories at once and post them weekly. I'm trying to finish up the second Joseph story because I'm like right there, so because of this, this story and Emilio's will be updated every other week so I have time to write K's story.  
> Sorry but I'm trying to finish that world up
> 
> So, every other week. Don't forget. So no chpt next week but yes the week after and so on
> 
> Enjoy

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” Nico was practically squealing as Sasha pushed a big box – his gift – over from the room. He’d hid it in Nico’s parents’ room because he wasn’t exactly sure where the hell he was supposed to hide twenty pounds of glitter. Not to mention the couple other things he added to the pile. “Omigod, Sasha, it’s huge! All that’s for me? I love you, babe.”

Sasha laughed at the jealous expression on Ismael’s face. Before they even got to enjoy the party, Mr. Shvets dragged Ismael outside and, they all assumed, had a very nice long talk.

Or something. They weren’t allowed the details.

“I didn’t wrap it,” Sasha said as he plopped down on the floor across from Nico, the big old shipping box between them. “Didn’t think you’d mind though.”

“No way,” Nico replied, his blue eyes so bright that they looked like an entirely different color. He tried peeling off the tape but had no luck until Ismael rolled his eyes and leaned over, ripping it off for him. “Show off,” Nico muttered at him, sticking out his tongue. Ismael just smirked and tossed the tape to the side as Nico turned back to the box. “I bet I’m gonna looove this.”

“These,” Sasha corrected, “Plural.”

“Oooh, plural.” Flipping the flaps open, Nico stared for a minute before he broke in raucous laughter, falling back onto the couch as he laughed into his hands.

Everyone looked completely confused – beside baba who knew exactly what it was – before the curiosity was apparently too much for Ismael and he scooted closer from where he sat beside Nico, peering in. “It’s…glitter,” Ismael deadpanned as he pulled out the two pound bag of turquoise. Then he pulled out the purple, the gold, and on and on until he had a total of twenty pounds and seven different colors. “It’s fucking glitter.”

“Twenty pounds to be exact,” Sasha said triumphantly because he knew it was perfect. “Had to make sure that we got as gay as possible up in here.”

“I love you so much!” Nico snorted in his laughter, wiping away his happy tears before dragging a big bag of silver over. “Someone should pop this on me so I can be-” His words were cut off by his own surprised yelp as Ismael suddenly popped the bag of red over Nico’s head, making him the most sparkly boy in the world.

“Me and my vacuum are going to be friendly the next couple weeks,” Mrs. Shvets sighed in disappointment which was at complete odds with her huge smile in watching Nico laugh and toss glitter everywhere. Passing a glare at Sasha, she added “Thank you, dear.”

Giving her a proper salute, he said “Just doing my duty as the bestie.”

“Well, let’s see the other stuff,” Monique cut into the laughter before she was eating a mouthful of magenta glitter. Wiping her face and falling into her own laughs, she threatened “Oh Shvets, you’re so dead. Just you-,” Nico threw a handful of gold, “Stop!”

Sasha leaned forward and dragged the purple glitter over to himself, getting ready to toss some around before he literally had a what felt like a fucking gallon dumped over his head. “You’re right,” Ismael laughed, “orange is not your color.”

He shook off the orange glitter as he laughed. Dear Lord, he was joking around with Ismael. “Told you red is my thing. I’m not a liar.” Brushing off some more and knowing that he’d probably be seeing glitter on his body for weeks, Sasha nodded towards the box. “Keep going.”

Entirely colorful and both literally and figuratively sparkling, Nico pulled out the phone Sasha had bought. “Oh my…”

“Shit,” Sasha supplied.

“It’s a phoneee. Now I can officially bother you twenty-four seven! I shall send you endless videos of me in my Jersey element.”

“Oh dear Lord.”

Setting the phone aside with an amused wink, Nico pulled out the little bag that held the last bits of his gift. This part, Sasha was a little unsure about. He trusted his instincts but maybe he’d been wrong? And if he was wrong, what if he was so totally wrong that he’d end up offending?

Then Sasha would be a total asshole.

Peering down into the little green bag, Nico’s froze, blinking down blankly. Silent seconds were ticking by and it was eating Sasha alive. He must’ve done wrong. God, he was so fucking stupid. “If you don’t like ‘em, I’ll just-”

“I love them,” Nico interrupted with a whisper, still staring down into the bag. “You’re too observant for your own good, bestie.” So much relief literally flowed into Sasha at hearing these words. Thank the fucking Lord. “You even remembered the colors,” Nico said softly as he pulled out the lipstick and eyeshadow palette that Sasha had seen him stare at so intently more than a month ago.

“Thought you’d finally like to taste like those cherries you always go on about.” Nico sent him a dazzling smile as pulled out the last few things. “I don’t know what the fuck bronzer or highlight whatever is and I sure as fucking hell cannot pick foundation and concealer but I know that eyeliner and mascara are musts. Apparently, eyebrow pencils too but your eyebrows have always been too perfect for your own good so I figured you didn’t need it.”

“They’re all perfect,” Nico continued in that raptured soft voice, having eyes only for the makeup he’d laid out in a neat row on the floor in front of him. “I’m gonna be so fab.”

“I hadn’t realized you were…into that sort of thing?” Mr. Shvets asked carefully, just a touch of skepticism on his face. It wasn’t judgment but it sure wasn’t ‘oh, those are great.’ He wasn’t the only one looking warily at the gift and it went without saying who the other person was.

“I should be offended you had trouble picking out my makeup and none picking out his,” Monique said to Sasha in amusement as she scooted closer to Nico to take a look. She picked up the eyeshadow, “Oh, the copper palette is going to work great with your eyes.”

Nico wasn’t paying attention to her words, instead looking at his father in worry. He looked like he was about to pee on himself and was probably thinking that his father may not have had a problem with him being gay but maybe makeup crossed the line. “Um…it’s just…I just figure…um…”

Reaching over Nico’s shoulder from where she sat on the couch behind him, Mrs. Shvets picked up the lipstick to check it out. “This red’s very pretty.”

A little light of hope flickered in Nico’s eyes as he turned his head to look at her. “Isn’t it?”

She gave Nico a smile but all her attention was for the man across the living room from her. Mrs. Shvets flicked a deadly glance at her husband. “What do you think?”

The woman knew how to stick a man in a tough situation, that was for sure.

Mr. Shvets shrugged easily and relaxed into the easy chair he occupied. “I think he better watch a whole lot of tutorials before he makes himself look like a clown.”

Literally, the entire room let out the breath it’d been holding.

“I’ll show you all the best ones,” Monique told Nico, “and pass on some technique while I’m at it.”

“Aw, thanks,” Nico replied with a huge smile, back to his smiling shining self now that the chance of rejection was behind him. He took back the lipstick from his mom, “Where’s my liner, Sasha?”

“Huh?”

“Lip liner. I need that too.”

Oh. Had he even seen that? “I will get right on that,” he laughed. “Don’t you worry.” He glanced at Ismael who had the typical deceptive face on his…well, face. “Where’s your gift?”

Ismael’s piercing eyes flicked to Sasha. “It’s private.”

“Mmm, don’t know if I like the sound of that,” Mr. Shvets snorted, a little light of challenge in his face.

Sasha had to hand it to Ismael because he met the challenging glare without a care in the world. “Well, it’s still private. Nothing changed.”

Nico was biting his lip and Sasha knew he wanted to tell Ismael to watch his attitude. “I’m sure it’s great.”

“I didn’t say it wouldn’t be,” his father said, “I just worry what ‘private’ implies.”

“Dad.”

“Nicolas.”

“And I’m Sasha. Nice to meet you all.” Baba smiled at him, knowing that while he may not like Ismael, he’d always stick up for his buddy. Sasha nodded at the makeup, “When I was buying, the lady remembered me from last time and she’s all like ‘your lady got herself a great guy-’”

“She does,” Monique laughed, totally smugly, making Sasha smile like an idiot.

“And then I’m like ‘actually, this is for my guy,’” Nico burst into a fit of giggles, looking very pleased with the development of the story, “And she’s like ‘wow, really? That is soooo cute!’” Sasha leaned back on his hands and shrugged nonchalantly, “And I’m like ‘yeah, no shit, he’s fucking adorable. I’ll bring him next time so you can admire him from afar.’”

His bestie was just about dead on the floor, lost in his laughter. “You so did not!”

“Swear on baba,” she grimaced because she hated when he did that, “the entire story is true. She totally wants to meet my guy.”

Just from the way that Ismael was literally grinding his teeth, Sasha could tell that he wanted to snap something along the lines of ‘he’s not yours.’ Too bad he didn’t want to push it in front of Mr. Shvets. Instead, he settled for a very unamused “Hilarious.”

“I always am.”

“Can’t say I agree.”

“Good thing I don’t give a fuck, yeah?”

“Stop,” Nico cut in, just that ounce of sternness entering his voice. But it didn’t last as his tone went back to happy Nic. “Guess what we’re doing tonight, bestie?”

Straightening because his arms were aching from the pressure, Sasha replied “I imagine…it’s something along the line of not sleeping and watching a shit ton of makeup vids?”

Nico snapped a finger gun at him. “Oh yeah.”

 

 

“So…baba got another letter in the mail today,” Sasha started, finally unpacking the feelings he’d been holding in for the entire day. He still wasn’t sure how to feel about it; technically, it was a wonderful thing.

On the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel like he was something of a failure.

“Mhmm,” Nico hummed as he very very carefully applied eyeliner. This was his fourth try and Sasha finally knew why he’d had the gut feeling to throw in not only a bottle of makeup remover but those cleansing wipes too. “Were you smart and opened it without her knowing this time?”

“Yeah.” Nico’s hand paused, blue eyes flicking over to Sasha in the mirror, questions written out in the open. “I…don’t know how to feel about it, to be honest. Like, I’m super happy but…it also makes…me feel kind of…” despair cluttered his chest, making it hard to speak. Was he just not good enough? “Worthless,” he finally whispered, staring down at his hands draped on his legs where he sat on the closed toilet.

His bestie said nothing but suddenly his face was there, staring up at Sasha with soft concerned eyes. Any other time and Sasha would’ve been laughing at him for having a half-done face. But he just didn’t have it in him to laugh; he’d been making sure to do it all day. “You wanna talk about it?”

Biting on the corner of his lip, Sasha replied “Viktor dropped the custody case.”

Nico’s eyes went wide with shock and, yeah, initially, that’d been how Sasha had felt.

Initially.

Then it’d become a torrent of a mixture of emotions. Utter joy. Relief.

Failure.

Was he not what Viktor had expected? Did he not like him anymore? What had put his father off that made him change his mind?

Why wasn’t Sasha good enough?

“Am I not good enough anymore? Did I do something wrong? Something bad?” Tears welled in his eyes and a burn grew in his chest. He felt like his flurry of contrasting emotions were suffocating him, pulling his lungs tight. The whole day he’d made sure to smile, made sure that Nico had a good birthday but now… “Does he not want me anymore?” he whispered, trying not to let the tears fall to no avail, “Am I not good enough? Maybe…m-maybe he’s like Aleksandra and-”

“Hey,” Nico said softly, cupping Sasha’s face in his small hands, “don’t talk like that, okay? You are one of theee most amazing people I have ever met in my life, Sasha, and if that’s not good enough for him, then fuck him,” even in his despair, Sasha took a second to gape at his buddy, “and the stupid first class ticket he came riding in on.”

Wiping his tears with a shaky hand, Sasha asked “Well…yeah, it’s not like I actually wanted to live with him but…if he wanted me so bad…why did I become worthless so fast? We’d been okay so where did I go wrong? What was it that I said that put him off? Where’d I fuck up? I want a dad, Nic, I want…” He shut his mouth, unwilling to let his jealousy burn through. “I just don’t get it and it makes me feel like shit and I hate it.”

Nodding while still piercing Sasha with those damn eyes, Nico grasped Sasha’s hands in his and made a determined face. And that determined face typically meant that Sasha probably wasn’t going to like what was going to be said. “You need to talk to baba about this.”

Okay, actually that wasn’t too bad.

“And Viktor.”

And there it was.

“No way,” Sasha practically snapped, his voice sharper than he liked to use with his bestie. “Are you out of your mind? That-”

“Hear me out,” Nico interrupted firmly, not even his half-done face making him any less fierce or firm, “Viktor came here with pure intention of getting you-”

“That was before he even knew what I was like-”

“So he’s not just going to give up that easy. Either something happened or, bear with me here, or” Nico paused, taking a deep breath, “or he…actually genuinely loves you.”

Sasha just gaped at his friend’s utter stupidity before snorting “Yeah, okay. You been snorting something? How the fuck does that even make any sense, you idiot?” Resorting to name calling or even just being mean wasn’t something they did to each other but desperate times called for desperate measures. “Maybe you’re a little lost on your stupid fucking happy train-”

“Are you done?”

Clenching his teeth and looking everywhere but at the boy crouched in front of him, Sasha ground his teeth before finally muttering “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Now, what if now that he knows you better…he feels bad?”

“Bad?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah, like, he saw how comfortable you are and how much you love baba and he didn’t want to ruin that? Possible?”

Anything was possible…but…what were the chances? “I mean…maybe? I doubt it-”

“Let’s throw the doubts out the window right now. Possible?”

Sasha shrugged but that didn’t seem to satisfy Nico so he nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, I guess.” Nico kept staring at him with those damn eyes of his until Sasha mumbled “I’ll talk to baba then _maybe_ Viktor.”

“Good,” he replied, a bright smile lighting his face. “Now, I have a face to finish.”


	23. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy peeps

Life was too good for the moment and that had Sasha nervous. Life should definitely not be this good. He had the girl of his dreams, the bestest friend in the world, the greatest grandmother ever, and _and_ he was currently taking not one but _two_ AP classes with the rest being honor courses.

Talk about good, right?

So something had to give. He didn’t know what it’d be but something just would, he knew it.

Arriving at school with a tired yawn and a shiver because October was a bitch, Sasha waited in front of the gate, somewhat impatiently from the cold, for his bestie to arrive. Typically, they’d walk together because it was on the way but ever since high school had started, Nico told Sasha that he’d really really like to walk with Ismael since they didn’t hang out during school, so that was okay, right?

Right.

No, no, it wasn’t fucking okay but Sasha hadn’t wanted to start a fight and instead settled for an uneasy smile. He’d given the same damn speech a billion times over and there was no point anymore. Plus, it wasn’t like Nico would listen. He was _infatuated_ by his ‘sexy’ bae.

And it was driving Sasha insane.

He knew it wasn’t exactly fair because Nic was allowed to love just like Sasha was. But if Ismael wasn’t such a bastard, then there wouldn’t be a god damn problem. On the bright side though, Nico had stood his ground when it came to his makeup and wearing it out and about. He loved it too much just to give it up like that when he’d barely had the opportunity.

Sasha tried not to think about how Nico stood up for his makeup but generally didn’t even bother when it came to anything else about himself. Ever since he stood up for his makeup, he started to stand up for his clothes too because ‘how can I look fab in the face and look trash in the wear?’ or whatever. So he wore what he wanted – generally – but other than that…

He was concerned.

“Wow, who’s this fresh face?” Sasha asked, not entirely jokingly, in surprise as Nico yawned and walked over to him. He looked like a drunk bunny. And yes, that made sense. “No makeup, barely even dressed… I mean, I know you like to be fashion forward but I think fashionistas don’t wear their underwear on the outside for a reason.”

Nico’s eyes went wide as he hurriedly glanced down at himself only to glance back up a second later with a tired glare. “You’re not funny,” he muttered, punching Sasha in the shoulder once he reached him. “And all the superheroes do it, so why can’t I?”

Looping an arm around his bestie’s shoulders and dragging him into the school gates with him, Sasha replied “You look beat.”

“My alarm didn’t go off,” Nico yawned, the ‘o’ of his mouth looking ready to snap from how wide it grew. He rubbed his eyes, trying to see the light from the dark of sleep. “And my parents had already left and then I wake up and I look and I’m like ‘oh man’ and then yeah…” A smile grew on his face, “But I think I rock the tired look, yeah?”

“Better than anyone I know.” A small triumphant grin grew on Sasha’s face when he realized something. “So, uh, guess Ismael didn’t get his daily walk, huh?”

With an eyeroll, Nico snorted “That’s the least of my problems right now. Ever since you went on the high and mighty smart train, I’ve been having trouble in my classes. Save my grades and soul, bestie.” Spinning out of Sasha’s grip, entirely dramatically, and facing him, Nico clutched the chest of Sasha’s shirt tight and said with wide eyes “I’m already failing.”

“We’re…barely two months in…”

“And I’m failing.”

Easing Nico’s hands off his shirt, he said slowly “And you couldn’t just ask me for help instead of being all dramatic?”

Nico brushed along his perfectly little quiffed hair, which was apparently the only thing he spent time on this morning besides brushing his teeth, with an expert touch that came with a summer of practice. “I’m gay, I get to be dramatic.”

“Hmm, sounds like you’re stereotyping.”

“I’m gay, I get to play with gay stereotypes.”

“I see.”

“Best believe it, bae,” Nico laughed as they walked to the front doors. “It’s like how we’re Slavs and we get to play with racist Slav things. It’s only okay if it’s your people. The gays are my people.” Stopping in front of his homeroom door, Nico pointed at him with a long dangerous finger. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

 

 

“See you at lunch,” Sasha mocked in the best impression of Nico’s voice that he could manage because…viola! Sasha still hadn’t seen him and lunch was already half way through. He didn’t even get to sit with Monique because she had some cheer thing.

So here he was. All alone. Bench for one.

With a sigh, he took a bite of his sandwich as he pulled out his phone, checking for the millionth time for something from Nic. At least a courtesy text or call would’ve been nice. How hard would that have been? Not fucking hard at all, thank you.

About to put his phone back into his pocket with an annoyed sigh, he ended up pausing with one instead as the phone vibrated. It wasn’t Nico but he was no less happy in seeing the message.

_How was school today?_

_Wait, school’s not over yet. I always mix up the time. Business is messing with my brain._

Sasha grinned at the messages from Viktor, him and his father having a…pretty nice relationship if he did say so himself. It wasn’t to the level of Nic and his dad but hey, it was more than Sasha had ever had and damn did it feel fucking _wonderful._

_Fiddling with his fingers while simultaneously ripping at the little skins around his nails, Sasha whispered through the phone “Why don’t you want me anymore? Do you not like me?”_

_Complete silence met his words and if Sasha wasn’t so down down down in the dumps since finding out that he was worthless to his father just like he was to his mother a few days ago, then he’d realize that it was a quiet shock, not a truthful one. “Why would you say that? I like you very much. I more than like you, Sasha. Where are these words coming from?”_

_“But if you more than like me…” he swallowed hard, trying to keep his composure, “if you more than like me, why…why don’t you want me anymore? Something must have made me-”_

_“Isn’t that what you wanted though?”_

_Sasha blinked his tears away in confusion, staring at the headset as if it was the embodiment of his father. “What?”_

_“You never wanted to live with me, you were scared and worried to be thrust into a family, and I don’t blame you. I shouldn’t have made such a rash decision just based on my own feelings. I thought this is what you’d want?”_

_He stared at the phone again, completely dumbfounded. Viktor did it because…he cared? What the fuck? Shit, was Nico right? Maybe Viktor had wanted to say that he loved him but had been too worried on how Sasha would take the words and that was why he settled for more than like?_

_Anything was possible, wasn’t it?_

_“It…I…yeah,” he finally whispered back, just a tiny burning of hope growing in his chest. “I want to stay with baba and with Nico and be here. That’s what I want. But-” How did he say that he wanted a father too without sounding so disgustingly pathetic? If he wanted a father, he should’ve been excited when Viktor tried to take him. Obviously he hadn’t been. At all._

_“Just because I’m not going for custody anymore, doesn’t mean that I don’t want you, Sasha,” Viktor said in such a soft tone that it seemed to have the power to soothe like lip balm. “It just means I want you happy and comfortable in life. We can still talk. In fact, I really hope that you’ll want to talk to me.”_

_“I do!” Sasha said quickly and he was thankful that he was sitting alone at home so he could blush in peace at his eagerness. “I…I’d really like that.”_

Typing out a reply, Sasha glanced up as a shadow covered him and found…some dude he didn’t know staring at him. “Uh…can I help you?”

“You’re that dude with the gay dude, right?”

Sasha blinked at the boy in confusion. “Are you talking about Nico?”

“The gay dude who wears makeup.”

He nodded slowly as he sat up. “Nico, yeah, my friend. Why?”

“He’s crying in the bathroom. Been crying for like all of lunch, man. I was just trying to get high in peace, man, but he just wouldn’t leave. Figured I’d find you and go to another bathroom. He’s really cramping my space. Can’t get high if the mood ain’t right.”

“Crying?” Sasha asked in worry, already packing his things as fast as possible. Now he felt bad for being annoyed with him. Fuck, he hoped everything was alright. Tossing his bag onto his shoulder, he added quickly “Which bathroom?”

“Down by the gym,” the boy answered, a bored look on his face. “Third stall.”

He spared only a second to call a thanks before rushing off to the other side of school, not even caring who he bumped or crashed shoulders with. When he reached the designated bathroom, Sasha closed the door softly, keeping his ear open for cries.

Sniffles were heard instead but same thing.

“Nic?” he called in a soft voice. The sniffles stopped but Sasha already knew where he was and came to a halt in front of the third stall. “Mind if I join you?” he said through the door. “It’s not like we haven’t been in a bathroom together before. Not a stall but hey, who doesn’t want to try new things, right?”

There was a broken giggle, the stall suddenly opening only a crack. “Hi.”

Staring back at the eyeball staring at him, Sasha said “I hope you don’t have your face pressed against the door. You’re gonna break out so bad.” Another giggle came, this time just a little stronger, before Nico shook his head and opened the door more. Sasha was met with puffy eyes and a red face and he had the urge to punch whoever caused this. “What’s wrong?”

Wiping away a lasting tear with the back of his hand, Nico sighed softly “Nothing.”

“Oh c’mon.”

“Just…an argument, that’s all. I’m a softy so I ended up crying. You know me.”

The words weren’t wrong but they just seemed…off. “Argument about what though?” Nico just shook his head. “Nic, what about? Who do I need to go beat up?”

“No one, I’m fine.”

“Really?” he replied in disbelief because if this was fine, then Sasha loved his mother. “Because our local junkie literally came looking for me because of your tears. That is not fine, Nico.” His bestie pursed his lips, rubbing his head and his messy hair softly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Nicolas.”

“It’s still nothing, I’m fine.”

Grinding his teeth while trying his best not to show that he was in fact grinding his teeth, Sasha took a deep breath and rubbed his face like he was trying to wipe the stress away. “Okay. Okay. Fine. Wash your face and let’s use the rest of lunch to act like everything is totally cool.”

Nico crossed his arms, a flash of irritation striking his demure features. “You don’t have to be mean about it. I’m sorry for not troubling you with little things.”

“We always trouble each other with anything and everything, no matter the damn size.” He had to take another deep breath before continuing, knowing that if he didn’t, he’d probably start yelling or at least just barely raise his voice. “You don’t want to tell me? Fine. But I’m not going to act like everything is damn peachy.”

His bestie opened his mouth to reply, his eyes flashing like neon lights but was cut off by the loud speaker. “Aleksandr Prokopenko to the front office, please, Aleksandr Prokopenko to the front office.”

They shared a glance before Nico said “Can’t be you. She said ‘Prokopinko.’”

Scratching his head while glancing around as if looking for the speaker was like looking at the intercom lady, he said in confusion “What’d I do?”

“Dunno, but apparently Prokopinko did something.”

Laughing and pulling his bestie into a hug, Sasha squeezed the life out of him before letting go. “Catch you later, love you, and we’re so not done with this.”

Nico shook his head with a sigh as he pulled his bag off the hook on the back of the stall door. “Couldn’t you just have left it at the love?” Shrugging on his bag and walking over to the sink, beginning to wash his face, he added with closed eyes “Love you too. Lemme know what you did.”

As far as he knew, he’d done nothing so… “No probs, love.”

Reaching the office and opening the door with just a little bit of nerves because he so hadn’t done anything to warrant being in trouble, Sasha walked over to the man at the front desk. “Um…I’m Sas- Aleksandr Prokopenko. You guys called on the loudspeaker?”

The man nodded, fishing through whatever papers were before him before finding what he wanted. “There’s a call for you from Mrs. Shvets from your emergency card. We couldn’t hold the call but go ahead and call from that” he nodded to the office phone sitting on the counter by the wall, “phone.”

Why would Nico’s mom call for him? That was weird. But Sasha had to admit, her assuming he was a good child and had his phone off during school hours was sweet. “Okay, thank you,” he murmured as he scooted down to the phone, picking it up, and dialing with a small amount of worry. He didn’t even have to wait long for her to pick up which was, admittedly, even more worrisome. “Hi, Mrs. Shvets.”

“Hi, dear,” she said softly, almost in this caressing ‘it’s all going to be okay’ voice.

Obviously, that made him more nervous than ever.

“Now I’m going to tell you something but I don’t want you to panic, okay? Because right now, everything is looking really good. So?”

Heart daring to beat just a bit faster despite her specifically telling him not to let it, Sasha gave a shaky “Okay.”

“Your grandma-”

Sasha literally stopped listening after those two words. The world just stopped existing as he thought of the many thousands and thousands of scenarios that could and did happen. His grandma? His baba? God, if-

“Sasha, you listening? Listen dear.”

“I’m l-listening,” he whispered, on the verge of tears with one already stealing its escape, “I’m listening.”

From her silence, he could tell that she knew that he hadn’t heard a word she’d said after ‘your grandma.’ There was a soft breath from her end of the line before she said “I said she’s in the hospital, Sasha. She’s had a heart attack but everything is looking promising right now.”

A heart attack. Shutting his eyes against the pain, he asked softly “But she’s okay?”

“She’s okay, I promise. In fact, she’s been yelling for the past half hour that if they didn’t let her out, she’d call the mafia to break her out.”

He laughed because he knew that was what he was supposed to do but it didn’t feel right. Because Mrs. Shvets could easily say over the line that everything was fine and Sasha was none the wiser without seeing her. His grandmother was an old woman who was just a tad frail; he wasn’t stupid. “Sounds like her.”

“I’ll be by to pick you and Nicolas up after school to take you, okay? She’ll be released by then anyways.”

“Okay,” he whispered back, to worried to say much else. Old women didn’t just get up from heart attacks. This was all hopeful preaching on her part and wishful praying on his. “Okay.”

Something had to give.


	24. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy ^.^

“Your pillow doesn’t look comfy. I should fluff it,” Sasha murmured to his grandmother who was coming out of her bathroom. He’d tried helping her walk just to make sure she was stable but she’d yelled at him so he settled for dejectedly making her bed comfortable. Fluffing the pillow as she arrived at his side, he set it back down and added another so she could recline. “Another blanket?”

“Sasha, love, I am fine,” baba rasped as she got herself into bed, Sasha pulling up the blankets on her legs. When had they looked so frail? She walked everywhere; she had the leg muscles of a freaking triathlon runner. “Just fine.”

Yeah, okay, he so believed that. He wasn’t blind or stupid. “Who are you trying to fool? Me or you? We both know that you’re not fine.” Sasha grabbed the chair he’d brought in and dragged it closer to her bed, “So you’re just going to let me take care of you and stop lying about it, okay?”

Baba laughed, a little weaker than her normal laugh, but it was a laugh and Sasha was more than thankful for it. She grasped his hand in hers which were thinner than he remembered and said “Fine. Is that good? But secrets for secrets, Sasha.”

“I have no secrets,” he snorted because there wasn’t a thing they didn’t share with one another. Besides her health apparently. “I am the epitome of an open book.”

Stretching just a bit, she rested into her pillows and said “My Sasha, use words that I know. I am smart but I can’t compete with you.”

A blushing grin grew on his face. “Epitome is like the embodiment of something. Like the perfect example of it.” Turning his hands in towards himself, Sasha added “Open book.”

“Really?” baba challenged with a raised brow, setting her hands in her lap, “Then tell me why you and Nico are no good right now.”

He scratched at his head in confusion because she was usually really sharp about things. But as far as he knew, which Sasha did, him and Nico were just fine besides for the little thing in the bathroom that his bestie still hadn’t told him about. “Baba, me and Nico are fine.”

“But he doesn’t come as much.”

“That’s ‘cause of stupid ass Ismael. He takes all his time,” Sasha muttered, half frustrated and half depressed. They couldn’t stick to each other all their lives but it hurt not having what they had. And Ismael practically _demanded_ so much of Nic’s time that Sasha was left missing his friend more often than not. He’d tried explaining it to Nico but it hadn’t gone well.

As anything including Ismael ever did.

_“We should do it tomorrow-”_

_“Oh, I can’t,” Nico cut in quickly with a shake of his head. “Me and Ismael are hanging out. Saturday’s are our best days because we’re both free for the whole day.”_

_He tossed the ball over to his bestie. “You’re always free. And…as far as I know, so is he.”_

_Nico shrugged after he caught it. Rolling the ball in his hand, he said “True but we don’t see each other at school-”_

_“That’s his fault.”_

_Even from a distance, Sasha could see the flash of annoyance in those piercing blue eyes. It was getting so common that it was seriously starting to worry him because this was not his bestie. “We’re not seriously having this conversation again are we?”_

_“I’m just saying-”_

_Dropping the ball on the floor and walking over to where they’d set their stuff, Nico snapped “Yeah, well just stop saying because I’m sick of it.”_

His grandmother’s face softened as she tried to make things better. “Aye, Sasha, it’s his first boyfriend. It happens. He just needs to find his feet, that’s all.”

Setting his chin in his palm with a grimace, he muttered “Yeah, well, he better find those damn feet of his soon then.” He glanced up at his grandmother, “And plus, I have Monique and you don’t see me doing that.”

Crossing her feet at the ankles under the furry blue blanket, baba sighed as she fixed her sleeve that was bothering her. Sasha would do it for her if she’d let him. He hadn’t even gone to school since her heart attack, convincing her that for now, it was best to have someone around her. “There’s a difference between Monique and Ismael. Ismael is much more of a character.”

“Controlling as fuck, you mean.”

With her focus still entirely on that sleeve like she didn’t want to meet Sasha’s eyes, she replied “Maybe. Maybe.” She looked up from her sleeve at him, “Now, you go back to school-”

“Baba,” he interrupted sternly, making sure he was glaring for good effect, “I’m staying until you’re well.”

“Sasha, I told you I am fine.”

“Fine my ass.” She gave him a glare that meant he was pushing it but her health was worth the pushing. She mattered more to him than anyone in the world. “Now get up so we can exercise a bit.” Baba sighed tiredly and opened her mouth to speak but Sasha stopped her before she even had the chance. “You want me to go back to school then you have to prove your health, lady. Let’s go. Up, up, up.”

“Sasha-”

“Up.”

Her face was saying he’d regret this bossiness later when she was back to full health but he was totally fine with that. Let her get back to that health and he’d take whatever punishment she wanted. Helping her out of bed and lining up the extra soft with extra support house slippers he’d bought her yesterday, Sasha watched her slip them on as he steadied her. “Maybe we’ll walk outside today. Get some fresh air?”

“It’s a little chilly,” she half complained. Only half because she believed herself above complaining. “My bones are old, love.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll grab your sweater,” Sasha murmured as he helped her to the easy chair she had in her room so she could lean on it while he went over to her closet to grab her a sweater. He was stuck between fleece or knit. What was warmer? Maybe he should just take both…

“Knit, dear.”

Knit it was. Yanking the red one off the hanger, he went back to her and helped her put it on before they made their way out of the house for their walk.

 

 

“Tomorrow’s the annual ‘have a pastry’ at Alise’s bakery,” Nico reminded during lunch at school the next day as though Sasha had actually forgotten.

Hint hint, he hadn’t.

“I know.”

Nico looked confused. “Oh, well…I thought you forgot because we always help her set up the day before and you didn’t mention doing anything today.”

No, he hadn’t. It didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to help Alise after school.

It just meant that he hadn’t told Nico.

Taking a sip of juice, he blinked blankly at his bestie. He hadn’t invited because he was damn sick of being turned down just for Ismael. It was their tradition for the past three years to help Alise together but Sasha didn’t feel like being disappointed. “You didn’t ask if I was doing anything.”

Just barely dabbing away something in his eye without screwing up his eyeliner, Nico ‘dusted’ his quiff a bit before asking “Was I supposed to? We just…generally tell each other.”

Used to. They fucking used to before Ismael took every ounce of day from Nicolas and every ounce of fucking thought. “Yeah? Did you tell me what you were doing yesterday? Oh wait, I didn’t even see you. I mean, you didn’t even bother calling either.”

The flash of annoyance didn’t arrive but there was a touch of frustrated hurt. With his mouth curled in hurtful confusion, Nico said “Well you didn’t either.”

“I was busy.”

“Yeah, so was I.”

“Oh yeah? What? Sucking Ismael’s dick?”

Okay, that was a little harsh.

Nico’s mouth dropped open, his eyes wide as hell before he snapped his jaw shut and, with flaring anger, snapped “Is that supposed to be funny or something? Because it flopped big time you fucking ass.” Crossing his arms, he added “Who the hell are you?”

Even if he’d been about to apologize, he wasn’t going to now. “Who am I?” he asked while pointing at himself in disbelief, “I’m exactly who I’ve always been. The real question is who are you? You literally erased everyone and everything because Ismael said so. Because Ismael said you’re going to spend time with him today. Because Ismael said this or that or some other bullshit.” Nico opened his mouth with fiery eyes screaming hate but Sasha pressed on. “Forget me, forget you. I mean, damn, Nic, you haven’t even come to check on baba. She had a heart attack and you didn’t even call.”

Guilt softened the fire as Nico uncrossed his arms and said softly “Sorry. It’s just Ism-” the fire popped up again but this time it wasn’t because of Sasha, “you know what? No, I’m sorry because I just do whatever Ismael says. It’s my fault. I can’t blame him for me listening. I need to put a foot down.”

Jesus Lord was this the awakening Sasha had been waiting for?

“I’m sorry and I’m gonna come help with you at Alise’s and I’m going to go home with you and kiss baba’s wrinkly feet and then we’re going to watch movies and eat garbage and fall asleep in uncomfortable positions and then-”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Sasha laughed, waving his hands in front of him to just get him to stop, “I got you. Apology accepted and I’m sure baba won’t make you kiss the wrinkles.” Setting his hands down in front of himself on the bench, he said in a softer tone “I’m just saying that make a little more time for everyone, that’s all. I’m not saying don’t hang out with him or have special time just for you guys but don’t forget me either.”

“Aw, bestie,” Nico said syrupy sweet, “I can’t ever forget you, babe.”

And then he winked.

Such a fool, this guy.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he snorted, waving him off. “I call rolling the cinnamon rolls.”

“Aw, no! That’s my favorite part!”

“Coin toss?”

With a grumpy face and crossed arms, Nico muttered with narrowed eyes “Fine. But I’m checking the coin. You cheated last time. Who’s even heard of a double head coin? Booooooo.”

Sasha laughed as he pulled out a plain old nickel. He’d won tons of coin tosses with his rigged prank coin until Nico had caught onto him. He’d tried wrestling him down to the floor to make a point but obviously that did him no good. “Here,” he said, handing over the coin. “Check it.”

Taking the coin with a suspicious glare, he looked over the coin before handing it back, seemingly satisfied. “Heads.”

“Tails. Obviously,” Sasha said, setting the coin atop his bent thumb. He flicked a glance to his buddy across the table. “Ready? Last chance to change.”

“I know what you’re doing,” Nico snorted, crossing his arms, “You’re trying to make me doubt and it ain’t happening. Go.”

With a shrug, Sasha tossed the coin, caught it, and slapped a palm down. A gleeful smile grew on his face as he lifted his hand, Nico immediately groaning because he knew what that meant. “Tails. That means the cinnamon rolls are mine, bae.”

“Boo!” Nico laughed through cupped hands around his mouth. “Hiss! Redo! Redo!” Putting his hands down and turning serious, he added “No seriously, redo.”

“No way,” he replied, triumph at winning the best job rushing through his veins and making him smile like a fool. He pocketed his coin and snorted “Don’t be a sore loser.”

“Where’s the fun in that? I’m always a sore loser. Anyways,” Nico paused to carefully clean around his lipstick – looking very cherry – somehow knowing that a tiny centimeter had smudged, “how’d baba convince you to come today?”

“Oh there was no convincing in it,” Sasha snorted, almost superiorly because she hadn’t been able to push him out without him exerting some control over the situation. “She had to be at a certain level of health for me to leave. She’s really good today. I was a little worried I’d tired her with our walk yesterday but nope. Doing great.”

Nico looked pleased, a huge smile growing on his face and his eyes lighting in relief. “That’s good, thank god. I should buy her a gift…or just bring her the extras from Alise’s.”

“Hey, hey,” Sasha threatened with a stern finger, “only sugarless stuff. We’re keeping her healthy, not killing her with sweets.”

Rolling his eyes, Nico said “Chill, babe. Did you invite Monique to help too?”

“No, why would I?”

“Oh, I just thought you would. It’s something she’d like.”

Yeah, he knew that but this was a tradition of theirs alone, even if he’d been planning on doing it alone. “She would but it’s our thing. I wouldn’t encroach in bestie territory with the girlfriend.”

Eyes downcast as he fiddled with his fingers, Nico whispered “Sorry for encroaching bestie time with the boyfriend.”

Sasha sighed and knew he’d just have to let it go. “It’s okay; I kinda get it. First relationship and all. Infatuation of your dreams. Almost embodiment of your sexy firefighter calendar.” Nico laughed, picking his head up with the light returning to his face. When Sasha had first gotten the makeup, he’d been a little worried that his friend would go crazy but he seemed to know the perfect line to stop at. It was like the no makeup look but with the slightest showing of whatever that made his cheekbones stick out more. Of course, there was the bold lipstick and eyeliner because Nico would clutch onto those with his cold dead hands but still.

He was good.

“So, afterschool, in front of the gate, right?”

Nodding full of surety, Nico answered “Yup. Then we go to Alise’s.”

“Help, take home extras.”

“Watch movies and eat junk food.”

“Fall asleep in uncomfortable positions.”

“And rinse and repeat!” Nico exclaimed, fists raised to the sky. “We’re going to do that _all_ weekend.”

“We might have to do a little junk shopping then.”

“We’ll add it to the list.”


	25. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> _“You can play dress up later."_

“I’m going to break your phone,” Sasha threatened, pausing the movie as he glared in Nico’s direction. “Tell your boyfriend to fuck off.”

Nico gnawed on his lip, the glow of his phone lighting up his face and highlighting the worry that Sasha did not like seeing, before he typed something and handed it over to Sasha. “Turn it off for me. I don’t think I can do it. Plus, I’ll have plausible deniability.”

Sighing as he accepted the phone and shut it off with the incoming of another message, he dropped it into one of the cupholders of the theater seats with a loud _clack_. “You wanna talk about it?”

“He’s just overreacting.”

That didn’t necessarily sound as good as Nico thought it did. “To?”

“It’s nothing, bae, don’t worry.”

“You sure?” Sasha asked, refusing to push play until he had this figured out. Nico had gotten into a lot of avoidance techniques and Sasha didn’t like at all. His bestie didn’t seem like his bestie anymore and it was getting more and more frequent. “Can you look at me and say that?”

Huffing, Sasha was sure there was an eyeroll in there, Nico turned his head and got up close and personal, his eyes filled with challenge. “It’s nothing, bae. Don’t. Worry.”

There was no evidence of a lie…but Sasha still wasn’t feeling the answer. Cupping Nico’s face in his hands to make sure he understood the seriousness of the situation, Sasha replied “I don’t want to worry but I love you and your what matters. I’m here for you for anything.”

It was almost like Sasha could see the gears turning in Nico’s mind. There was more than he was telling and Sasha never thought that of all things to come between them it would be a boy. Ismael at that. Plastering a smile on his face that was almost convincing, his bestie clutched Sasha’s wrists and slowly let them down. “Everything’s fine. Promise.”

And now apparently even promises weren’t sacred. Nodding and letting it go because there wasn’t much else he could do, Sasha took his hands back and pressed play even though he wasn’t feeling the movie anymore. Setting the remote down, he got to his feet and earned himself a curious glance from Nico. “I’m gonna check on baba. Be right back.”

“Bring back more chips!”

He nodded with a sigh and trudged over to his grandmother’s room, knocking once before going in. Sasha found her in bed, thankfully, blankets piled on her legs as she read a book. “Aye, my Sasha, what are you doing here? This is movie night.”

Silently shutting the door and walking over to her large four poster bed, Sasha murmured “It doesn’t feel right.”

Baba patted a spot on the bed beside her. “What, love?”

With a heavy sigh because now that he’d said it aloud, it was so obvious, Sasha took a seat beside her with the wish he was small enough to curl into her side. That hadn’t been possible in years but he had such a sudden yearning for it that he tried to scoot as close as possible. Ismael had managed to build a wall between Sasha and Nico who’d been closer than a freaking…pair of atoms or whatever. That close and the fucking bitch Ismael had managed to come between them?

Load of fucking bullshit.

“Nico’s keeping secrets,” he complained like the petulant child he knew he was acting like. But it wasn’t _fair_. He had Monique and he hadn’t changed one bit. Why’d Nico have to? “And it’s all Ismael’s fault.” A low boil of hateful stomach acid was sitting in the pit of his belly. “I want to kick his fucking ass.”

Chuckling and wrapping her arm around his broad loopy shoulders, baba kissed his head and murmured “Sasha, love, people grow up and sometimes they grow apart.” Scrunching his face into ugly annoyance and opening his mouth to protest this foolery, baba cut him off before he had the chance. “I’m not saying that is what’s happening but relationships change a person.”

“They shouldn’t. It’s Ismael’s fault, I’m telling you.”

From her sigh alone, he could tell that she was getting annoyed. “Sasha-”

“He needs to hurry up and find his damn feet,” Sasha snapped, pulling out of her embrace. Crossing his arms, he added “We’ve never kept secrets in our lives and he’s in there with the damn nerve telling me everything’s fine? Bullshit.”

“Did you talk to him about it?”

“I tried,” he insisted in a whining voice, “I tried and made sure I did it nicely too because everything including Ismael makes him damn defensive. It’s not fair that some boy comes between us.”

Shaking her head with a tired sigh and setting her book down beside her, baba said “Love, you need to talk to him about it. Complaining to me is not going to fix things.”

He rubbed his face harshly before getting to his feet in defeat. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” Kissing baba on her cheek, he murmured “Sleep well. We’ll make sure to keep it down.”

“Did you drown in the toilet or something?” Nico laughed as Sasha walked back in with the requested chips. Actually, much more than the requested chips because the best way to drown your feelings was with alcohol or food. There was no alcohol but he sure as hell had a lot of food. “Thought I’d have to get a fishing pole and get you out.”

“A fishing pole? What exactly would you have done with that?” He set the little box of snacks down between their feet. “Supposed to hook me or something?”

“Dunno, would’ve came to me in the moment of the crisis.”

“Ah,” he said as he opened a bag of chips, “but what if I drowned in that one moment?”

“Then I’d resuscitate you,” Nico laughed, grabbing a mini bag of Cheez-its. “Duh. Baba’s good?”

“Yeah, baba’s fine. Went to bed.”

Nico was silent for a moment before he asked softly “Are you mad at me?”

Sasha just wanted this night to end in peace; his feelings weren’t worth the hassle. “What do I have to be mad about?” With a concerned face, Nico made to say something but Sasha didn’t give him the chance. “Seriously, everything’s fine.”

“Why do you have to lie?”

A sarcastic snort erupted from him so loudly that there was no way he could pass it off as anything but what it was. Nico didn’t seem to appreciate it if his annoyed eyebrows were anything to go by. “Doesn’t that sound just a little hypocritical?”

“When have I ever lied to you?” Nico asked indignantly, his tone fully offended. Setting down his bag of crackers, he pointed at Sasha and said “You can’t sit there and tell me that there aren’t things that you and Monique keep between each other. You don’t see me throwing a stupid fit over-”

“There is nothing!” he blew in frustration, that small boil from before now a hardcore rolling one ready to overflow. “Literally, there is nothing besides bullshit small talk. I told you about us kissing, about us talking about movies, about what we want to do, about where we hope everything goes between us, about her damn brother which I technically shouldn’t have but I did. Because I tell you everything. What the fuck do you tell me? I don’t even know where you are when you’re with him which is technically dangerous, just so you know.”

Sasha paused, waiting for his annoying bestie to come up with some lame ass reply but Nico said nothing. He instead settled on glaring at Sasha with his arms crossed so Sasha kept going. “He’s not your goddamn owner, Nic, he’s your boyfriend. You’re not some lowly bitch in your relationship who goes and comes and does what your master says. And if you actually are then you need to leave him because that’s bullshit.”

“This conversation is bullshit,” Nico snorted, uncrossing his arms and grabbing his phone, booting it back up. “I’m calling my mom and going home. I’m not going to just sit here and listen to you saying gar-”

“Have I said anything that was wrong? If I have, please correct me, oh mighty Nico. Go the fuck ahead.”

“I’m calling my mom,” he repeated, pressing his phone to his ear, not even giving Sasha a second glance, “and going home.”

“Fine. Go the fuck home, bitch. No one’s going to miss you here.”

He made sure to ignore that start of tears in Nico’s eyes or else his sleep would be even worse than he knew it’d be tonight.

 

 

A weekend spent with his thoughts and Sasha had never felt worse in his life. It was like the pain of thinking about his bitch mother and what used to be his bitch father combined to the tenth power. It was suffering to the max. And yet he not once thought of apologizing because he knew he wasn’t wrong. But lacking his bestie’s company, even in the simple form of text, was killing him. What was worse was that Nic hadn’t even bothered trying to talk to him.

The blame was set firmly on Sasha’s shoulders and he found that so unfair because all he did was care.

With a sigh as he trudged in the hall of school – not even running into Nico here – Sasha was so out of it, he didn’t even register when he was slammed into a wall until he was very much glued to it in pain and there was a knee pressed against his groin. “Bathroom by the caf. You don’t show up and it’s gonna be hell on your head.”

Ismael was gone faster than Sasha could recover. Hell, faster than he even had the chance to rub the sore spot of his head. The incident had happened so quick that no one in the hall bothered to even spare them a curious glance.

Hell on his head sounded pretty damn foreboding.

Making his way to the apparently designated meeting spot, Sasha pushed his way in, the heavy door blocking out the sounds of school as it shut.

“Lock it.”

Rolling his eyes, Sasha locked it and turned back towards the interior of the small bathroom. “What.”

With arms crossed as he stood in the middle of the tiny floorspace they had, Ismael snapped with a blazing hate etched across his face “What the fuck did you do?”

Sasha wasn’t exactly sure what this was supposed to be reference to. It was a damn vague question. “Care to elaborate?”

“What the fuck is there to elaborate?” Ismael hissed, getting in Sasha’s face. He hadn’t been afraid before but having the larger boy looming in his face with pure fury managed to wiggle the fear out of the floor of his stomach. “Nicolas has been upset for the entire weekend and he won’t tell me shit.”

“Oh, hey, karma back at you.”

Grabbing a fistful of Sasha’s shirt, Ismael snarled “This isn’t funny, dumbass. He’s upset and I don’t like seeing him upset. And being that he spent that entire day with you and hasn’t mentioned you once, it has to be your fault. He blew me off for you and you treated him like shit.”

With a bored sigh, Sasha replied “Are we seriously going to go over the whole ‘he’s mine, not yours’ thing again? Because that’s just stupi-” He winced as Ismael shoved him into the door. “For that matter, you guys didn’t even have plans that day so there was no blowing off.”

“Any time he has is mine. We don’t need to make plans.”

“Pretentious, aren’t you?”

Ismael’s anger slipped for a moment into confusion before that confusion must have made him even angrier. “He’s hurt because of you and I don’t like that.”

Sasha didn’t either but it wasn’t entirely his fault. It wasn’t fair that he had to take the blame. “Whatever there may or may not be is between me and him. Now let the fuck go.”

“I hate your guts,” Ismael notified in a superior tone. “In fact, I’ve always hated your guts but I have to put up with you until he’s smart enough to realize that you’re a load of bullshit-”

“Yeah, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

For some reason, that just made Ismael smile a really creepy smile. “Exactly why I’m the bringer of justice. Me and Nicolas are closer than you and him could ever be-”

“Highly doubt that after dating for less than a year.”

There was a superior light that grew in Ismael’s eyes. “There’s a certain amount of closeness that comes with sucking someone off, Aleksandr. I had to trust him not to bite off my dick.”

Okay, the joke about sucking off Ismael had been that. A sick joke. He didn’t think they’d…actually done it. And for Nico not to tell him? He couldn’t even find the anger in him to be offended in being called by his name. The revelation was too much for him to process right now. They were fourteen for God’s sake; who thought about having sex at fourteen? Who went and had sex at fourteen? Sasha considered himself mature for his age, more mature than Nico was, and he totally had no plans of having sex anytime soon.

And yet Nico apparently had?

Ismael took his thoughtful silence as some sort of agreement because he continued. “Now my sexy guy has been in a bad mood, on the verge of tears more than once, and I know it’s your fault. So in return, to make it up to him, I’m supposed to beat the shit out of you.”

That caught his attention fast. Ignoring the pounding of his heart in his ears, Sasha said steadily “Nic would never say that.”

“Yeah? You haven’t talked to him since you did whatever you did. How would you know? Hell, you barely know him, Aleksandr; you guys keep secrets from each other now, remember?”

As far as he knew, he’d never told anyone his complaints except baba and he wouldn’t have told Ismael anyways. So how the fuck did he know what was festering and eating him on the inside? The only one who could’ve told him was Nico but he wouldn’t.

Would he?

Sasha wasn’t sure he knew anymore.

“Nothing smart to say?”

Casting his gaze to the side because he couldn’t meet the triumphant one of Ismael’s anymore, Sasha gave in to the inevitable. He wasn’t walking out of this bathroom without some bruises. Hopefully him giving in would make Ismael go easier on him. “Go ahead. Make it up to him.”

“When’d you become a pussy? Scared of a little fight, Aleksandr?”

No, he just didn’t have it in him when it came to giving in to his bestie. Whether Nico said the words or not, Sasha wasn’t on the top of the totem pole for him anymore.

Maybe the hurt of a beating would help him ignore them pain of his heart being ripped out.


	26. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> They say when you're stuck, you should switch povs so this is me switching  
> Enjoy

Nico flicked his gaze in the mirror to Ismael walking into his room before turning back to where it should be. The last thing he needed was to poke his eye out with his eyeliner. “Someone’s looking happy.”

Swaggering over because Ismael didn’t seem to know how to walk like a normal person, he came to stop directly behind Nicolas, wrapping his arms over his shoulders and setting his chin atop his head. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Leaning forward as best he could with the weight set on him, Nico drew the line he wanted with precision that came from hours of practice and murmured “I guess. Someone should be.”

Ismael pulled him back with the arms wrapped around him and tilted Nico’s head up so their gazes could meet. “That’s funny, I thought you told me you’re fine? Was I lied to?”

There was a little jump in his heart as Nico swallowed nervously. He sure got himself stuck in that one. “No, you were deceptively deceived.”

With a raised brow and confused quirk of his mouth, Ismael said “I don’t think you can use the words like that. Anyways, what are you getting fancy for? Going somewhere? Your mom gave me a nasty look when she opened the door, by the way.”

His mother had given his boyfriend a nasty look because she assumed that everything was his fault. Thing was that she had no idea what was going on but she was a very smart woman. Nico was mopey and Sasha hadn’t been seen or heard from in a couple days which meant that they’d fought. Being that they rarely did, what was the one thing that might make them fight?

Nicolas’ mom wasn’t a damn good paralegal for nothing.

Pulling back towards the mirror and opening up his eyeshadow palette, Nicolas replied “Who knows? You know how she is. I’m her baby; you’re corrupting her baby. It’s a mother thing. And no, I’m not going anywhere but I saw this new thing with eyeshadow and wanted to try.”

Makeup had been a fight but it’d been so worth it. Ismael hadn’t liked the idea of Nicolas wearing it out but Nico had been wanting it so bad that he hadn’t been willing to let it go.

_“You can just wear it for me,” Ismael explained, probably what he thought was calmly but definitely wasn’t to Nicolas. “Why do you have to wear it out?”_

_“Because I want to.”_

_“That’s not a reason. They don’t need to see-”_

_“I want them to!” Nico snapped, getting to his feet off his stool in front of the little diy makeup counter his dad had made him. “I want to go out and people think I look fabulous and that my makeup game is hardcore. Alright?”_

_Getting to his own feet and striding the few steps from Nico’s bed to where he stood, Ismael literally looked like he was physically holding himself back from yelling. “I think you look nice and that’s more than enough.”_

_Cute but no. “To me, it isn’t.”_

_His boyfriend crossed his arms and took a deep breath. “People will bother you.”_

_If this was his new tactic, it was terrible. “People already do.”_

_“Yeah, well, why make it worse?”_

_Nicolas wasn’t even worried. Okay, well, he was but he had Sasha. His bestie had his back no matter what. “Maybe people need to learn not to be assholes instead of other people having to change themselves.”_

_“It’s just the way people are.”_

_“I’m not losing out on something I want just because people are jerks. And that’s that.”_

It hadn’t been that but Nico had eventually won so it didn’t matter. “So what’s got you in a good mood?”

“Can’t it just be you?”

A smile unwittingly grew on his face with that light bubbly feeling igniting his chest. “I suppose it could.”

“So when do you plan on going back to school? I already miss checking out your ass in the halls.”

Nico laughed as he took out his brushes. It was a compliment but then it really wasn’t. Ismael hated the pants Nicolas wore to school. ‘Too tight’ and ‘no one needs to see that’ and ‘what? Are you wearing fucking leggings?’ and of course one of his favorites ‘put your goddamn junk away.”

“Dunno,” he replied, selecting his broad brush, “I’m still not feeling too well.”

Not that there was actually anything wrong with him. He was healthy as a horse. But there was no way he could go knowing that he’d run into Sasha. The words that night had hurt and they’d hurt even more because they were more truth than Sasha could ever guess.

“Uhuh,” Ismael snorted in disbelief, yanking Nicolas back against him and tilting his head up again. “I thought we just talked about your lying tendencies?” Stealing a kiss that Nico wasn’t really in the mood to give, he whispered against his lips “I can’t stay long. How about you be good company for me?”

He wasn’t feeling kisses to feel up to making out or groping or whatever the hell Ismael had in mind. But he’d been denying him the whole weekend which wasn’t very fair. It wasn’t Ismael’s fault Nico wasn’t in the mood. Well, not exactly at least.

But…Nico was kind of working on his makeup technique.

“I’m kinda busy.”

Ismael rolled his eyes like it was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “You can play dress up later. I seriously have to leave soon. You say you love me and yet I haven’t gotten a decent kiss in weeks. That’s just being a bad boyfriend.”

The words hurt because makeup was more to him than just dress up and just last week they’d made out literally all day. He was such a good boyfriend that he was messing things up with his bestie, for god’s sake. Biting his lip, Nico murmured “But we kissed all last-”

“Those were crappy kisses. Barely even got me excited. I told you before your technique needs work. You should be working on that instead of this,” he shut the lid of the eyeshadow palette, “crap.”

He sure was feeling as crappy as his eyeshadow apparently was right now. Averting his gaze from the overpowering one of his boyfriend, Nicolas said softly “I thought you said I look pretty.”

It bothered him the way Ismael sighed but he’d never tell. “You look gorgeous. I told you that already. Why do I always have to boost you up? Have some damn confidence for fuck’s sake.”

Just like with the sigh, Nicolas would never be able to tell him that his confidence was mostly shot because of him. “Sorry.”

“Make it up to me then. Show me how sorry you are.” Stealing himself another kiss that was more control tactic than anything else, Ismael added “I love this shade of red on you. You’re like a fucking gorgeous temptress. I can already see how pretty it’d be wrapped around-”

“Nicolas,” his mother called as she knocked on the shut door. In that moment, Nico had never loved his mother more. Ismael had been pushing this idea for months and Nicolas wasn’t sure how much longer he could refuse. “Can I open?”

Ismael took a step back as Nicolas called his mother in. She smiled at them both though she was a little frostier in Ismael’s direction. “I’m going to go check on Mrs. Prokopenko. You coming?”

And yet never had he ever hated his mother more than right now because she knew that something was up between him and Sasha. But he’d run to Sasha before he’d spend the day with Ismael reminding him how he was being a lacking boyfriend lately. He was already failing in the friend department, he didn’t want to do it in the boyfriend department too.

Breathing a secret sigh of relief, he answered “Yeah, I promised baba something. She gets nasty when she doesn’t get her surprises.” He hadn’t promised a single damn thing but just saying yes would make Ismael think he was skipping out on him on purpose. “Gimme a sec to get ready.”

“Two minutes!” she called as she walked out and shut the door. Nicolas kind of wished she’d left it open. “Let’s go, go, go!”

“What the fuck could you promise an old lady?” Ismael all but snapped, yanking Nico off his stool and pulling him close. Not in a nice way. “What the hell? We’re supposed to spend-”

“But you have to leave anyways,” Nicolas cut in quickly, wrapping his arms around Ismael’s waist in hopes of soothing him before he got angry. This was nothing yet. “So at least it’s not on a day where we would’ve actually lost the day together.” Pushing up on his tiptoes, he gave the nicest kiss he knew how to, Ismael initially resistant before taking advantage like he always did. He pulled Nicolas tight against him, his arms a prison not even allowing some wiggle room. It took a lot of effort and a waste of his two minutes but Nico pulled his mouth away. Not far but away. “I’ll text you later, okay?”

The phone had been for him and Sasha to talk at all the wrong times but it became Ismael taking up every hour of the day just like he did in person. Managing his time was not an easy thing to do but he didn’t know how to tell Ismael to just chill out a bit. Nicolas had actually tried but it hadn’t worked out well at all.

Crushing another kiss to his lips, Ismael yanked Nico back by his hair as though he was the one acting like a hungry dog. “You better. I shouldn’t have to be the one always texting. That means I’m putting more into you than you’re putting to me. That’s not fair.”

Resisting the urge to pry Ismael’s fingers from his hair, Nicolas replied “No it’s not. I’m sorry.”

The rare soft look that Nicolas loved made an appearance as Ismael hugged him close. It’d be innocent and sweet if he wasn’t clutching his ass so tight. “I know. I know.”

 

 

“We shouldn’t have gotten her something so sweet,” Nico said to his mom beside him as she rang the bell to Sasha’s brownstone. “Butter pecan sounds more like death by diabetes for old people.”

“It’s her favorite,” his mom laughed as she rang again when there was no answer or call of acknowledgement. When they waited in further silence, she rang again with a new look of concern. “I know for a fact that she’s home even if Aleksandr isn’t.”

“And you’ve been doing so well in calling him Sasha,” Nico sighed for his bestie who hated his name. “So well, mom.”

Pulling out her phone and dialing what was most likely the house in front of them, his mother replied “You know I don’t like nicknames.”

They listened to the ring inside the house together. “And you know he hates his name.”

She said nothing as they waited. “Weird,” she murmured, closing her phone. She stood doing nothing for a moment while twisting her mouth in thought before ringing again. “Where-”

“Can’t an old woman sleep?” baba complained but there was laughter in her eyes so they knew she was joking. “Aye, come in, come in.” She eyed the cake in Nico’s hand, “Butter pecan.”

“No duh, baba,” Nico snorted to his mother’s amusement as he led the way in, going straight for the kitchen and setting the cake down on the counter. Spinning around to them as they sat down in the living room, Nicolas asked “Where’s Sasha?”

Both women were eyeing him carefully meaning they knew something. Something called a fight that made things ugly. Were they that obvious? “Upstairs. Nap, I think.”

Sasha did not do naps. “Thanks,” he murmured quickly as he rushed to the stairs and bounced his way up. Sasha hated anything called a nap. It was a waste of the day. Coming to a stop at Sasha’s door that was cracked open, Nico knocked softly before peeking his head in. There was in fact a lump under the covers. “Sasha?”

No movement. Huh, maybe he really was asleep. Tiptoeing in, Nicolas came to a stop over his friend. His friend who…looked slightly purple? “Sasha?” he called softly, setting his hand on his bestie’s shoulder. He shook him ever so carefully and said louder “Sasha. Sasha, it’s me.”

There was a small groan before eyes blinked open and the boy who’d been facing the wall turned and blinked up at Nicolas. “Nic?”

Blinking with wide eyes and a pounding heart, Nicolas asked with a shaky voice “Sasha…Sasha what happened to you? Why are you fifty shades of purple?” He reached out a shaky hand, coming to a careful stop, cupping his buddy’s face. “And your nose! Oh my god, what happened?”

For some reason, and maybe he was wrong because he was stuck in shock, it looked like pure relief passed through his bestie’s face. And then this idiot went and cracked a smile? What the hell. “I was going for the bad boy sexy look. I think I went a little overboard.”

He laughed even though this was definitely not funny, taking a seat beside his friend. Sasha very carefully and at a snail’s pace laced with groans and curses sat himself up. God, he probably looked terrible under his shirt if his face was this bad. “What the hell happened?”

There was the slightest movement like he wanted to look away but forced himself to meet Nico’s eyes. With a shrug that caused a pained look, Sasha answered “Got mugged.”

“Mugged? The hell?” It was New York, sure, but it’d never occurred to him once that they’d ever get mugged. “Why didn’t you just give them your wallet? At least you wouldn’t be a mess.”

Sasha laughed and shook his head. “They were looking for a bit more than my wallet. But I’m fine, really.”

“Sasha, this isn’t fine.”

A crooked smile grew on Sasha’s face, his eyes lighting up happier than he’d seen them in a while. “No but I’m good now.”

“What would- oh…” Guilt ate at him, causing him to look down at his lap. He should’ve been there for his man just like his man was always there for him. But no, he was busy being pouty while Sasha was being smashed into the floor. And it didn’t even matter to his bestie; he was just happy that Nicolas was here. “I’m sorry, Sasha.”

“Nah,” his friend snorted before he clutched his nose. “Fuck, that hurt. But seriously, don’t be. We were both being assholes. So I guess we’re both respectively sorry, right?”

“Yeah,” Nico said with a relieved smile, looking back up at Sasha before deciding to go in for a careful hug. “God, my weekend sucked without you.”

“No Ismael?”

The name drop didn’t even bother him one bit. He had his bestie again. “He can’t take your place, love. You’re you and that’s special to me. Me and you against the world.”


	27. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy! I swear the story's going to pick up the pace soon. I'm just trying to finish Joseph's (should be done this week!) so I can put my focus here

“I can totally give you a sponge bath,” Nico offered so earnestly that Sasha was pretty sure that he was being serious about it. “We’ve seen each other’s junk before so it won’t be awkward at all.”

Just the thought of Nic giving him a bath was already awkward not for them to actually go through with the action. “That’s real sweet of you and all,” Sasha laughed, causing his face to light on fire and his chest to constrict into a wheeze that was warning him to stop, “but it’s really unnecessary.”

From seeing Nico’s surprise, Sasha knew that Ismael had beaten him up by his own will. Knowing that both made him feel as light as a freaking butterfly and as bitter as Satan himself. It was too late to pout about it but Sasha was a master pouter and took his opportunities where he got them.

“You sure? I really don’t mind.” He leaned over and looked closer at Sasha’s face before pushing away the blanket and lifting his shirt. “I doubt you can move very well. These bruises are nasty ones.”

And the pain they created every time he moved was even nastier. Not that he’d tell Nicolas that. Just like he’d never tell that it was Ismael who’d done this to him. What was done was done. At least they were talking again. “I’m sure. They look worse than they actually are, promise.”

Nico didn’t look convinced but he let the subject drop. Good because while they really had no shame between them, baths were pushing it. Pulling the blanket atop both of them and setting his head on a pillow, Nico asked “So how’s baba been doing? She been all up in that bedrest like she’s supposed to?”

“Shockingly, yeah,” Sasha replied as he shut his eyes with a relieved sigh. He’d been worried he’d have to fight to keep her in bed but thankfully, she was following the rules. “But she’s been kind of tired.”

“To be expected.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. She’s kind of like…” Sasha scrounged his brain that had become pulp due to a certain happening for the right word. “mmm…fatigued maybe? Just flat out exhausted.”

“Well, she did just recently have a heart attack. I’m sure those are just lasting symptoms.”

Also what Sasha figured. “Plus, she’s old. Old ladies get exhausted. The only thing I’m worried about is her lack of sleep. She doesn’t sleep well at all. But that’s kind of an old lady thing too, right?”

Yawning noisily and disturbing Sasha’s restful eye closing, Nico mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his nose in a very unattractive manner “Well, I’m not an old lady but probably. High chance. High high.”

“Hey, Nic?” Nico hummed as he shut his own eyes and pulled the blanket up higher. It looked like he was ready for his own nap of the day. “You…ever…think about sex?”

He’d expected a reaction, yes, but he sure hadn’t expected full blown laughter. Not at all. Rolling over so that they were face to face, Nico snorted “Sasha, we’re hot blooded hormone enraged teenage boys. What do you think?”

“Well, I know we think about it,” Sasha grumbled, embarrassed that he was getting laughed at so loudly. It wasn’t his fault that Ismael had made him worry. “I just mean like, giving it serious thought beyond our general curiosity. Thought that pushes more towards action.”

Raising a brow, Nico asked “Action?”

“Yeah. Like enough thought where you’d actually go and do it or something…sexual.”

Nico seemed a little thrown off by the question which was very reassuring because Sasha knew that he didn’t know how to lie _that_ good. Ismael had just been peacocking all high and mighty like, thinking that he could make Sasha jealous.

Oh, he’d show that fucker. Not only did he beat him but he wanted to mind fuck too?

“Uhh…while I may be hormone raging with boners that are not in my hands…I’m not looking to be knocked up so soon.”

“Way to kill the seriousness of the conversation,” he snorted, reaching out and flicking his bestie in the face. “So…you and Ismael haven’t…”

His bestie’s eyes went wide with shock as he sat up so quickly that the blanket yanking off Sasha’s body actually hurt. “Sasha!” Nico said in a scandalous voice, “I have definitely not done any deeds of the do.”

“The do?”

“Are you crazy? My parents would have my penis removed and my lips sewn shut _and_ keep me locked up in my chastity tower.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“And then you ask if I’d actually done something?” He crossed his heart and somewhere back in their Orthodox Christian church, a priest was crying. “No way, José! These legs are locked and sealed.”

He refrained from rubbing his eyes like he wanted to because he knew that it’d only cause pain. “You’ve given me one too many visuals for my two minutes. Information that I did not need nor ask for.”

Dropping back onto the bed with a little bounce, Nico laughed “Oh please, like you’ve ever labeled me as anything other than a total bottom boy.”

Actually, bottom twink but close enough. Although, Sasha had not once ever said that aloud. “I’ve never said that to you.”

“But you think it, bae. Which is perfectly fine. No shame in what I think I’d like. It’s called finding my pleasure and I’m pretty sure that being a sexy bottom will totally be my pleasure.”

“Imagery, Nic,” Sasha groaned, his hands covering the heat of embarrassment flaunting itself on his face, “imagery I don’t want or neeeed.”

“Just saying.”

“Oh yes, you are and have. Thank you for this enlightening speech of yours.” Reaching over his friend to grab a tissue from the box on his nightstand, Sasha very carefully blew his nose as he lay back down. Now that everything Ismael had said was proven to be a lie, Sasha was feeling both a thousand times better and a thousand times angrier. The minute he healed, he was so going to kick that assholes stupid ass. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m being pushy or anything but…just don’t rush anything, okay?”

“You mean sex? Sasha, I just gave you a speech about keeping my virginity nice and intact.”

True, he had but Ismael had a way of making Nico do things he wouldn’t necessarily normally do. “I know, I know, I’m just saying is all.” Amusement glittered in those wide blue eyes that were heavily lined. “New eyeliner technique?”

Joy literally oozed out of Nico as he sat up and bounced in place. “You noticed! Do you like it? I was also going to try a new eyeshadow technique but we came here. What do you think?” He leaned up close and personal, fluttering his eye in front of Sasha’s own eyes. “Nice? I think it accents my eye shape better than my last style.”

Sasha didn’t know much about accenting but it looked good. “One time, Monique told me that she’s totally jealous of your steady hand. Apparently, your lining is on point.”

He wasn’t sure that anything could’ve made Nico happier than those words as he clasped his hands in front of his heart in such a cheesy overdone manner. “Really? Oh, I love that girl.”

“So do I,” Sasha paused a moment before adding, “I think. Honestly, I’m too young to decide that actually. Do you love Ismael?”

Biting on ever bitten nails for a minute as he thought carefully, Nico finally murmured “Well…I know I definitely like him. But love? Idk, bae. Love is supposed to feel like how I feel about you and I don’t think I feel that with Ismael. Or at least, not yet.”

 _And hopefully not ever_. It wasn’t nice of him at all, but the sooner they broke up, the better. Ismael was no good for Nico. “Still plenty of time to think on that,” he replied, ever the diplomat. They’d just fixed their relationship and he really didn’t want to fuck it up already. “You wanna crash here tonight?”

 

 

Sasha grabbed Nico by the back of his shirt before they reached the table they were apparently going to sit at. He may not tattle on Ismael, but he sure as fuck was not sitting with him and acting like life was peachy. “I’m gonna go…”

Nico’s brows raised up up up on his forehead. Sasha had been going to say ‘see Monique’ but Monique was already sitting with Ismael. “Go…? Where?”

They were sick of lies, weren’t they? If Sasha was sick of them, then Nico had to be too. He couldn’t and wouldn’t lie anymore. “Look…I don’t want to sit with Ismael.”

He hated how upset the words made Nico look. It was like his whole face just went _kaploot!_ Crossing his arms, Nico asked stiffly “Why? Why do you always have to make a problem?”

It was impossible to explain why without really explaining why. But then…why did he have to protect Ismael’s ass? Why was he even considering the thought in the first place? “Bestie, I love you.”

“I’m aware and have never had a doubt.”

“Alright, good. Keep that in mind as I tell you what I’m about to-”

“You fuckers coming or what?”

Literally, it was almost like Ismael knew what Sasha was about to do. He stood there, Monique at his shoulder, with a dangerous glow in his eyes. He wasn’t touching Nic like he probably wanted to so he could show Sasha who he ‘belonged’ to but his eyes said it all. Hell, Sasha was surprised that he was even sitting at the same table as them but really, it was probably only because Monique was. Ismael would make sure to sit next to her to avoid any sort of gossip.

“I gotta piss,” Sasha replied, hooking his arm into one of his bestie’s. “I didn’t want to go alone.”

He could see how much of Ismael’s restraint was required in not yanking Nico out of Sasha’s arm. It was literally causing the vein between his eyes to pulse. “Might as well make it a party, huh? I’ll come with you too just in case there are some pervs hanging around. Can’t be too careful, yeah?”

“Don’t be silly,” Nico snorted as he rolled his eyes and clutched Sasha’s arm tighter. Sasha had no clue what was making him pick sides today but he sure wasn’t going to complain about it. “We’ll be right back.”

Ismael didn’t seem to like the sound of that but besides for the clench of his jaw, he said nothing more as Sasha and Nico spun around and headed back the way they came. “What’s going on?” Nico whispered even though they were out of earshot now. “That was way more than just basic ‘I hate you, you hate me.’”

Pushing their way into the restroom, Sasha locked the door before taking a deep painful breath for courage. “Nic, your boyfriend beat the shit out of me. I love you and I know you like him and I wasn’t even going to say anything but I realize that I definitely should because it’d be ridiculous for me to stay quiet about something this major and I’m rambling, please say something. I love you.”

He’d closed his eyes halfway through his rambling speech so he had no idea what he might be able to read on Nicolas’ face. Nor did he want to know. He was just too worried that Nico would think that he was making it up just to cause drama or something. But when minutes of silence passed with not a noise or even the hint of movement, Sasha knew that he had to take a look to assess the situation.

So he peeked his eyes open.

Before him, through the tiny slit of his eyes, stood his bestie looking angrier than he’d ever seen. His face was flushed and his jaw was clenched tight with the fury he had to be feeling. Even his normally joyful eyes were screaming bloody murder. Was he mad at him? Did he think he was lying to him to cause problems? His dislike of Ismael was no secret but Sasha would never cause problems for the hell of problems. He hadn’t even wanted to tell him the truth. “Nic?” he whispered as he opened his eyes fully. “Say something, buddy.”

Nico’s jaw clenched even tighter and Sasha was totally worried for the state of his teeth right now. Rubbing his face harshly and letting out a ragged and very heated sigh, Nico said behind the cover of his hand “What.”

Was he…supposed to repeat that? Honestly, Sasha didn’t remember half of what he had rambled on about so he just went for the most important part. “Your boyfriend beat the shit out of me yesterday. Cornered me in the bathroom by the cafeteria and pummeled my face in. As you can see by the evidence of a pummeling written all over me.”

The hand slid down his face and another sigh came except this time much slower and thoughtful. Sasha appreciated the fact that he was looking rather…chill now like the sigh had blown out all his furious frustrations. “Pummeling.”

“Mhmm.”

“I can see that.”

“Yeah.”

Nico shut his eyes for a quick second before opening them and walking over to rest his hands atop Sasha’s shoulders. It was quite the feat being that Nico was much shorter. “I believe you. I believe you and I appreciate that you tried to spare my feelings by not telling me and were just going to let it go. But I also appreciate that you did tell me because this is not okay.”

That sounded promising. Real promising. Not breakup promising but it’d definitely create some rifts. Rifts were good. “So…?”

“So, I’m going to talk to him about it, voice my extreme _extreme_ displeasure, and be upset with him.”

“Don’t hate me but I like the sound of that.”

His bestie laughed as he softly pulled Sasha into a hug. “Good. I’m so sorry, babe. I’ll get him to even apologize too. Maybe even kiss your huge feet.”

“Oooh.”

“Yup.”


	28. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy

He spent the rest of the day after they parted ways after school for word from Nico. Maybe even just a little text or something saying something close to ‘prepare for some feet kissing’ or something lame ass that Nico would say. Sasha waited and waited. He waited through doing his homework, waited through taking baba on her daily walk, and waited through making dinner.

Sasha also waited through _eating_ dinner.

By the time it was a reasonable hour to sleep for the next day of school, Sasha was more or less sick of waiting. Maybe Nic had chickened out? Honestly, Sasha wouldn’t even hold it against him because he knew that his bestie was at least on his side. That counted big time to him. He thought about just calling or texting to sort of get a feel where things were currently standing but then Sasha decided against it. Even if it took Nico a week or never, Sasha didn’t care.

His bestie had sided with him and that was what mattered.

“Come on, dude,” Sasha muttered as he glanced at his watch again then up at Nico’s building, tapping his foot. “We’re gonna be late…”

When another few minutes passed, Sasha decided that Nico must have missed his alarm because he typically didn’t make it a habit to be late about anything. He tried not to let annoyance seep into his sigh as he dragged himself up the stoop and opened the gate to the building before opening the door and going in. Sasha did, however, let the annoyance seep in as he climbed the stairs and waited at the door for what felt like forever without an answer. “Nic!” Sasha called, knocking again with a little more thump to his knocks. “Babe, let’s go, man. Nic!”

Fist raised and ready to knock once more, he paused as the locks sounded and the door opened, revealing his bestie who gave him a moderately decent smile. “Hey.”

“Hey?” he couldn’t help but snort as he rolled his eyes and pushed his way in. “Dude, we’re gonna be late.” Sasha took in Nico’s state of dress of pajama pants and a long sleeve. “Did you miss your alarm agai-” He leaned closer, Nico shying away as he did, and squinted at the bruise coloring just above his cheekbone. “What the fuck is that from? You trying to copy me?”

Nico laughed but it was so strained like someone had their fingers wrapped around his throat. “I opened the cup cabinet without paying attention and it just totally went _thunk!_ into my face.”

Sasha spared a glance over to the cup cupboard in the kitchen before glancing back at Nicolas. “Yeah? Just thunk?” Nico nodded with a cute little smile like that would make his lie better. Yeah, his lie. Sasha wasn’t fucking stupid. That was not a bruise from a cabinet. He didn’t know what it was, but he did know that much. “I’m surprised the corner didn’t catch you?”

Just for a brief brief second, Nico’s eyes went wide with worry before returning to their proper Nico-ness. “It did, I just got lucky that it didn’t break the skin is all.” He laughed and added cheekily “What, bestie, you want me to be all bruised up like you? Worried I’m gonna catch waaaay more eyes?”

“No, but I bet Ismael would be.”

“Yeah, well,” Nico said with a nonchalant shrug that was not as nonchalant as he had to be going for. “He needs to get over his jealousy problems. He can’t both have me and not, you know?”

This…this almost sounded like _thee_ awakening Sasha had been waiting months for. Fucking _months._ Trying extremely hard to not let his smile grow and extremely failing to which Nico rolled his eyes, Sasha cleared his throat and tried to act mature for the moment.

Just for the moment.

“That’s a-”

“Just say it how you want to say it.”

“Oh thank fucking _God_ ,” Sasha sighed with relief before pulling his bestie into the tightest most affectionate hug in the world. “Nic, baby, I have been saying that forever and to hear you finally _finally_ agreeing with me is just like…God’s gift to humanity.”

“I think that’s a bit extreme,” Nico laughed in Sasha’s arms before pulling away. He raised his chin and put his hands on his slim hips, ever the pose of complete control.

And Superman, of course.

“I told him that I was upset yesterday _and_ that we’re taking a break from each other.”

“No.”

“Mhmm,” Nico replied, a big triumphant smile making him look like a beacon of sunshine. “Shame on him for thinking that he could just beat the crap out of you and I wouldn’t care. Shaaame. So, until he makes it up to you, he and I are a no no.”

Sasha placed a hand on his heart and said in a solemn voice “I’m so proud. So proud, man, you have no idea. I kind of wish that it was more for you and not me but I’ll take what I can get.” Nico opened his mouth, a flash of annoyance in his eyes but Sasha changed the topic before he had the chance to speak because he already knew what was going to be said. “Now, we’re officially late even if we run so can you please just go get ready so we can make it to second period?”

Nico snorted and rolled his eyes before he spun around and walked in the direction of his room. “First hasn’t even started yet. It’s barely even time for homeroom.”

“Yeah, see, but by the time you’re dressed, get your makeup on, and out the door, homeroom is over and first is half way through. Then include the walk time-”

“Okay, okay, okay!” Nico called out from his room, the sound of his closet sliding open playing the chorus to his voice. “I get your point!”

By the time they reached school, it was in fact, two minutes before second period.

To which they high fived.

“Now that is what I call early,” Nico laughed as they entered the school gates. All that mattered was that they made it inside the building before one of the ‘tardy patrol’ caught them. Then, they’d be utterly golden. “Yay to us!”

“Don’t be loud,” Sasha muttered as he opened the front door just as the bell ending first period rang loud. Thank God, they made it just in time. Doors opened and students began streaming out into the tight hall. “And no thanks to you. Of all days, couldn’t you have worn those pants when we weren’t already late?”

The pants in question were of course _thee_ pants which required ten minutes of pulling on and off. Sometimes fifteen. They’d managed to get it down to seven today because Sasha had been too impatient to wait that he’d gone to his bestie’s room and helped him yank up that damn pants all the way.

“My currently not-bae hates me wearing these pants so what’s better than wearing them when we’re off?”

“Now that,” Sasha said while pointing at Nico as they walked in the crowded hall to their lockers, “I can be late for. I am totally for this whole passi…ve” his speech slowed as he and Nic came to a confused stop in front of Nico’s locker. “…aggressive…shit…”

Aggressive was the word.

Because whoever did this was definitely angry. Or just an asshole. Both probably.

“Well,” Nico said in a soft voice like he thought by making it low enough, it would stop Sasha from catching the distress in it, “I was always a fan of graffiti. And red.”

Graffiti was art and, most of the time, beautiful. But this? This was anything but beautiful. It was just…downright cruel.

_COCKSUCKER_

_FAG_

_BITCH_

And those were just the ones that could be read through all the layers and layers of angry red words. There looked to be the word ‘pansy’ but Sasha wasn’t too sure. It cut off right at the edge of the locker door. “Considerate of them to make sure that they didn’t write on the next person over, huh?”

“Yeah,” Nico struggled to laugh as he leaned on Sasha and tried to hide from prying eyes that he was wiping his tears. “And l-look at this handwriting! Atrocious.”

Atrociously familiar.

“Welp,” Sasha said, one arm hooked with Nico’s and the other clenching a fist at his side, “We still have a second period to get to, right?”

Nico nodded into his arm.

Once Sasha was back up and running without a million bruises and aches and pains to last him a lifetime, he was going to fuck this fucking bastard up. “Then let’s grab your crap so we can go grab mine, bae. We wastin’ time.”

With another nod and taking back his arm, Nico spun the combination in while still trying to wipe his tears around his now ruined makeup. “It’s just a stupid bully. It’s whatever. As if some pathetic attempt is going to hurt my feelings.”

Strong words from the crying boy but Sasha was proud for him to try.

“Like, screw whoever did this, right? Because they’re just some lose-”

_SPLAT_

It felt like time froze. If only a few gawkers were watching before, the entire population of the school was now. They were as frozen as Sasha as they stood there watching a frozen Nico, his hand still raised where he’d pulled the door open.

He wasn’t sure he even wanted to guess what the hell had been in the bag that had popped open, its…creamy whiteness looking…particularly gross. Whoever had set this up sure took _a lot_ of time and effort to think it through and set it up.

Pure aggression.

Sasha reached his hand into the locker to grab the little note just sitting there atop Nico’s English textbook, waiting to be read.

So Sasha took it to read it because that was what it was there for. Also because he wanted to get rid of it before Nico saw it.

_hey fag I know how much you love cum on your face so have a gift!_

_enjoy!_

Crumpling the note with a furious squeeze of his hand, Sasha clenched his jaw tight, the muscle of annoyance ticking just under his ear. He was so lost in his bristling burning anger that made his heart feel like it just disintegrated from the heat that he didn’t notice Nico lower his hand and just stand there.

At least, not until he understood what the shoulder shaking was.

Shoving the note in his pocket, he yanked a disgustingly covered in God knew what Nico into his arms, pressing his face into the crook of his shoulder so he could hide like Sasha knew he wanted to.

“Oh…my…God…” Monique said in a soft voice, her eyes wide as she joined them. “What…who…” Who? Sasha had a pretty good damn guess. Damn fucking good guess. “Holy crap.”

Nico hiccupped so hard that it didn’t just jolt Nico’s body but Sasha’s too before he wrapped his arms around Sasha’s waist even tighter. Keeping him in his arms and glaring at anyone who was just standing around, Sasha snapped “Fuck off! There’s nothing to see!” A couple people moved on but others stayed.

Especially because they thought the show was about to get better.

“Awwww,” Casey drawled, fake sympathy oozing from his voice as he walked over with Victor and-

Ismael.

Fucking. Ismael.

Sasha wasn’t sure if his fury could burn any hotter but it sure was trying to test the theory.

“What happened, fag? Someone hurt your feelings?” Casey continued, resting an arm on Monique’s shoulder like he even had the right before she gave him an angry glare and shoved it off. Casey just laughed, those stupid perfect teeth of his flashing bright as he did. He stepped closer to take a look at the locker. “Damn. Nice work.” A disgusting grin overtook his face, “Too bad it wasn’t real cum; bet you would’ve loved that, huh?”

For the life of him, Sasha couldn’t figure out how to keep Nico safe in his arms and yet break Casey’s entire body. Conundrum of all conundrums.

A minute later, he stopped trying to figure it out and just pushed Nico behind himself when Ismael laughed and snorted with a superior smirk “Bet the fag would’ve.”

Tossing his backpack against the lockers with a slam that caught the attention of the world, Sasha strode up into Ismael’s face and shoved a finger at his chest. “What the fuck did you just say?”

Ismael wasn’t even moderately concerned and why would he be? He’d beaten up Sasha only a couple days ago. “Oh please, Aleksandr. Don’t start fights you won’t win. _Can’t_ win.”

“J-Just forget it, Sasha,” Nico mumbled miserably where he stood, looking like a lost puppy unsure on what to do or where to go.

It was a good thing Sasha didn’t mind doing it all for him.

“You don’t want to get in trouble again, Sasha,” Monique murmured as his shoulder, wrapping a tight hand around his arm. “Just let it go.”

Let it go? Let it _go_? How fucking stupid was she? How, and for that matter, why in the hell would he let something like this go? He’d take a dozen beatings before he’d _ever_ stay silent about something like this. Without even bothering to look at her, Sasha said in a stiff voice “Take your hand off me.”

She did but she didn’t give up. “Sasha, it’s just a prank-”

That made him turn. “A prank?” Sasha snapped as he whirled around to face her, the muscle tick harder by the second. It was like he’d grown a new pulse point from how powerful the thumping of it was. “A prank? Would it be a prank if someone called you a nigger?” Her eyes went wide, a mix of angry and hurt but Sasha didn’t care. “Would that be funny? A joke? How about if they left you a pair of chains in your locker? Told you that you liked that shit because you’re just some nigger slave, huh?”

Monique’s mouth opened but she was like a flopping fish with not a noise peeping out. Nico was where Sasha had left him, looking at him with a horrified face, his expression easy to read even with him covered in…whatever it was.

“Well?” Sasha asked, knowing he was being harsh but how could he not? Why was this a joke to people? It wasn’t funny at all and it sure as hell hurt. It hurt Sasha and he wasn’t even the victim. He couldn’t ever begin to imagine the pain Nico was in. “It wouldn’t be, would it? Just like this,” he pointed at Nico’s locker as the bell signaling the start of second period sounded, not that anyone cared, “isn’t close to a prank. This is blatant hate and cruelty. I don’t stand for that and if you do, then please never talk to me again because I don’t accept people like that.”

He didn’t wait for a reply as he turned back around to face the still smug Ismael. They smiled at each other, Ismael so sure that Sasha wouldn’t chance the fight.

Fucking idiot. No one fucked with his bestie.

Sasha would chance his life for him.


	29. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Okay, so, some not so great news  
> This story (and Emilio's) is going on a hiatus until April 17
> 
> Wow, that's a long time! Why you ask? Well, life's a bit busy and I can't write three stories at one time. Actually, I can but I want them all to be a certain quality that I'm proud of.
> 
> I'm opening a booth at a small comic con April 6 so I'm working on making a shit ton of inventory. Y'all should come. You'd get a special discount  
> Also there's a short story contest that I want to do that closes March 4. Prize is to be published in an anthology with big time authors and 1500 dollars
> 
> So yeah. I'll still be writing but not as often and I won't have to worry about update scheduling.  
> Thanks for your guys' understanding. Don't worry, this isn't one of those where I don't come back. I've had it done to me a million times, esp at a good part of the story, and I ain't gonna do it to you guys
> 
> Thanks again. April 17, don't forget  
> Enjoy

 He obviously hadn’t won.

But he hadn’t exactly lost either. In fact, even though he almost did kinda sorta lose, Sasha was feeling a bit like a winner. He’d done right by his bestie, had stood his ground, and, even though he’d pretty much gotten his ass kicked, had done a good job with his already aching body and minimal fighting skills.

“Ismael, your mother is on her way,” the head school attendant called from her spot behind her desk.

Sasha liked to think that he’d done a pretty good job fucking up Ismael’s stupid face. He hadn’t managed to break his nose like he would’ve liked – seemed it was a harder task than he’d thought – but he’d caused some ugly bruising that’d last for at least a couple weeks.

Ismael was sure to remember this battle.

“Aleksandr, I can’t seem to get a hold of your grandmother,” the attendant continued, the headset of the phone pressed between shoulder and ear. “But I’m trying again.”

He wanted to tell her that right now was actually her nap time but it really wasn’t worth the pain he’d go through in getting the words out. His jaw felt like a balloon even if it didn’t look it. Luckily, though, there were no seriously serious injuries. Sasha was all in one nice piece.

_“C’mon, I’ll help you clean up.”_

_Sasha blinked painfully over at Nico, still covered in goop, and-_

_Leslie?_

_Huh._

_She had a soft hand wrapped around Nico’s wrist and was looking at him like he was a baby deer missing his mama. Well, his ‘mama’ was currently trying to not die on the floor so Nico had to be a bit lost. But Leslie had on her ‘Leslie’ face that Sasha – and Nico – knew well. It was the mama dragon saying she was going to protect at whatever cost._

_And that was okay. In fact, it was perfect because the teacher was about to drag Sasha and Ismael’s asses to the office so Sasha wouldn’t have the chance to take care of his bestie. Mama dragon would take care of him and keep watch until Sasha could resume his position._

_Nico blinked at her, slow and confused, his face a mess of emotion, tears, and slop. “What?”_

_With an encouraging smile, Leslie repeated “I’ll help you clean up.” She nodded in the direction of the bathrooms, “Let’s go.” Taking a moment to glance at Sasha trying to get to his feet without crying, she said “I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.”_

He didn’t worry. Nico was in safe hands for the time being.

The phone clicked down back into the dock as the desk lady said “I can’t seem to get an answer. We’ll wait a few and I’ll try again.”

“Great, so now we have to sit here and wait for some old lady to pick up?” Ismael snorted in disdain, unable to scrunch up his nose like his face usually did when he was annoyed.

Really, Sasha hated that he actually knew that. If Nico had never wanted Ismael, hell, if he’d never wanted to ask Monique to the dance all those months ago, everything would be a thousand times better. They’d still joke around, Sasha would still glance at Monique from a distance and like her better than he probably liked her now, and Nico could continue to get his fantasies from his firefighter calendar until the new year came around. Then he could’ve moved to like…cops or something.

Life would have stayed simple.

“Don’t make me make your face worse,” Sasha snapped though his aching face didn’t allow for the words to come out as angry as he would’ve liked. “I’ll-”

“Mr. Prokopenko,” the principal said in such a stern voice that it actually made both him and Ismael jump in surprise, somehow, the man suddenly forming out of nowhere. “I’d advice you to watch yourself. You’re in enough trouble as it is, don’t you think?”

He’d take all the trouble in the world for Nicolas. “Yes, sir, but-”

“But nothing,” he replied, his hands in the pockets of his slacks as he came to a stop before them. Even his stop was a stern one. With his eyes flashing, though the affect was dampened by his middle-parted hair, he added “You two have caused a great amount of trouble so my advice would be to watch yourselves.” Sasha opened his mouth to say something but the principle turned to the desk lady and asked “Parents on the way?”

“I can’t seem to get a hold of Aleksandr’s grandmother,” she replied, the phone once again pressed to her ear. “This is the fourth time I’ve called.”

Sasha didn’t want to worry and he didn’t think he needed to worry but…after four calls, his grandmother should have woken up by now. She should have heard the ringing. True, their house was big but their phone was fuck ass loud. They’d bought it especially for that reason so they could hear it no matter where in the house they were. So why wasn’t she answering?

Trying not to panic, Sasha asked “Is it okay if I use my phone to try and call?” The principal glanced at him for a moment before nodding. “Thanks,” he said quickly, pulling out his phone from his pocket and speed dialing his house. He held his phone to his ear and waited.

Impatiently but he waited.

The phone rang.

And rang.

And he waited.

And waited.

By the time he reached their answering machine, Sasha had gone through three of his nails, having bitten them down to the cuticle. Maybe…she wasn’t home? That could be it. Yeah, yeah, had to be. “Lemme try her cell…”

She was an old woman but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be moderately tech savvy.

Pressing the phone back to his ear once more, Sasha waited as he started in on his pinkie nail, finishing it into a ragged mess before he even got through one ring. The world outside of the ringing didn’t even exist with all of Sasha’s focus on listening and waiting.

Voicemail.

“She…she probably doesn’t have it on her,” he laughed nervously, more to himself than to anyone in the room, redialing once more. That had to be it. She just didn’t have her phone on her. It was probably home, sitting right on her nightstand, and she’d gone to take her walk like Sasha had told her to make sure that she did.

Yeah, that was totally it.

Had to be, right?

“Well, we’ll wait until Ismael’s parents arrive and go from there,” the principal sighed like this was all one grand inconvenience. Walking off towards his office, he added “Hurry up, Mr. Prokopenko.”

Hurry up.

Like this was just some prank he felt like pulling. Like his grandmother was a waste of time and that his worry was unfounded.

Hurry up.

Starting in on his thumbnail, he dialed Nico’s mom even though he knew she was at work and he shouldn’t. But his heart was pounding and his head was panicking and he needed to know that everything was okay. No way, no how, would the principal allow him to run home to check on her and come back.

Voicemail.

“Okay,” Sasha whispered as he took steadying breaths in hopes of keeping his fear at bay, his leg bouncing up and down where he sat. “No biggie. She’s just probably busy. That’s all.”

As he called once more, Ismael asked “What’s wrong?”

Turning his head very slowly, Sasha stared at the bruised fool beside him as he listened to the ringing. “What makes you think I even want to talk to you?”

“Look,” Ismael replied with an eyeroll that could rival Nico’s sass, though who knew? Maybe he picked it up from his bae. _Former_ bae. “Me and you got a lot of shit between us but your grandma is some legit shit, alright?”

Wow, who would’ve thought. “Yea- Hello?” he said quickly, the line opening. “Mrs. Shvets?”

It was funny how Ismael looked just a tad ashamed. Who knew what it was he was feeling shameful of because his sins were many.

“Sasha? It’s school hours, is everything okay?”

“Um, well,” Sasha mumbled, he too now feeling a bit ashamed because both baba and Mrs. Shvets hated when he got into fights. They thought better of him. “Kinda not really. Um, I got into a fight-”

“Sasha.”

“I know, I know, but that’s not what I’m calling about. Um, I know that you’re busy but…baba’s not answering and…and I’m getting really worried. Can you go check on her?”

“House and cell?” Sasha gave a worried hum in reply. “Alright, don’t panic, okay?” He was already beyond that point but he nodded anyways. Not that she knew he nodded. “I’ll go check right now, alright? And I’ll keep calling until I get there. I’m sure she just forgot her phone at home.”

Her surety was nice but Sasha…Sasha didn’t hold much hope to it. “Okay,” he whispered, tears brimming in his eyes as he shut the phone and stared numbly down at it in his lap.

What if something happened to her.

What if…

“I shouldn’t think like that,” Sasha said to himself, his tears sliding down his face as he imagined something having had happened to baba. Wiping his tears, he muttered in annoyance “I shouldn’t.”

“She probably just left her phone behind or something,” Ismael said, slumping in the chair beside Sasha. “Old ladies do those things, y’know?”

Sasha couldn’t help but laugh, hanging his head in his hands, and just laughing at the weirdness of how Ismael was just sitting there being supportive. After everything that had just happened and here he was. “How could you?”

“How could I what?”

“Hurt Nic like that?” Despite how disgusting the words were going to taste in his mouth…he knew it was mildly…true. “I thought you really…”

Fuck it, he wasn’t going to say it. Fuck this fucking bastard.

“Don’t assume things you don’t know shit about,” Ismael snapped, his careful concern long gone to his anger. “It’s not your business so stay out of it.”

Not…his…business…

Seriously.

“I have enough shit on my plate right now,” Sasha snapped, getting to his feet despite how loud his body was protesting. Ismael just raised an amused eyebrow like this was just a joke. As if Nico being ridiculed, hated on, abused, and being lost in tears was okay. Like it didn’t even matter. “But I swear-” He looked to the floor where his phone had dropped when he’d stood, the ringing shrill in his ears. “Hello?” Sasha answered quickly, hoping Mrs. Shvets had gotten in touch with his grandmother.

Just from the careful way Mrs. Shvets spoke, Sasha’s heart dropped straight out of him. “What was the way you and Nicolas would get into the house when the chain’s still on?”

The chain…if the chain was on…she…she had to be home, didn’t she? And if baba was home…why wasn’t she answering? Unless… “Umm…” Sasha replied, gnawing on his other thumbnail now that the other had nothing left to it, his voice wavering from just that one sound, “we…we use the…the fire escape ladder and I leave that window open.”

They’d gotten yelled at a million times for doing something so dangerous but desperate times called for desperate measures.

He couldn’t believe Mrs. Shvets was about to go through a window to get into his house.

“Through…the fire escape,” she said, just a touch of a disbelieving laugh at what she had to do creeping into her voice. “I’ll call you back, dear.”

For some reason, it felt like the darkest of all dooms set down on his shoulders when she hung up.

Not able to just sit and wait, Sasha paced the office, the office staff and Ismael watching him as he did. Back and forth and forth and back, five times, nine times, twelve times, and no Mrs. Shvets calling him back. She had to be in by now, didn’t she? But…she wasn’t as tall as Sasha and she didn’t do it as often so maybe she just…needed time.

Had to be it.

Twelve became twenty and on and on and on and Sasha was on the verge of a serious breakdown. It did not take that long to get into the damn house, did it? Mrs. Shvets had to have made it in by now and by then, she’d already be on the second floor so all she had to do was walk down the hall to baba’s room. That was it. It didn’t take this fucking long to walk down a damn hallway. It didn’t. He knew that. He walked down that hall every single fucking day of his fucking life, goddammit.

Something had happened to baba, that was the only thing that made sense.

He continued on with his pacing as Ismael’s mother came in, looking pissed beyond belief. If Sasha were himself and not about to die for worry, he’d notice how Ismael just barely, _barely_ , cowered. And he’d take note of it and think about it.

But Sasha was hardly himself right now.

The office door opened once more as finally Sasha’s phone rang. He didn’t even spare a second before he both opened it and dragged a bedraggled Nico into his arms to keep him safe and away from Ismael. “Well?” he asked, impatience making him sound irritated but it was hardly that. Not even close when all he felt was fear. Keeping Nico to his chest, Sasha said “Mrs. Shvets?”

Silence followed his desperate plea. Silence that was worrisome and only made him panic more with the only thing keeping him sane was the familiarity of having Nico in his arms. The goop was relatively gone but even if hadn’t been Sasha would’ve only pulled him even closer. “Well?” he repeated, desperation strangling such a simple word. “Tell me something?”

“An…ambulance is a minute away and-”

Sasha didn’t hear any words after that.


	30. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Hello and welcome back!! We're back on for the foreseeable future y'all  
> For those who don't read Joseph's story (you totally should tho) it's concluded it's second story and the third starts May 2nd! The last of the 'canon' trilogy before we start a list of awesome AU's. Story list is in the last chpt of Nightmare in Henrietta.
> 
> Also if you don't read or have noticed that my Tumblr link leads you to an empty page, it's bc my whole account got deleted! Wonderful, I know. I was royally pissed beyond belief. I haven't started rebuilding yet but will soon. Follow out of pity if you want
> 
> So, for our updating schedule, we're going back to once a week! Yay! I'm gonna try and push this story so we can get it done. I'm not going to lie, I had a rough time writing this chapter. Coming back after a month of no writing was really difficult. It's not a perfect chapter but it's decent and helps along the plot so yeah
> 
> Enjoy!!

The heart monitor beat steadily.

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Steadily.

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Steadily as though that was supposed to be a comfort for Sasha.

“…a success. She’s looking steady and healthy so now it’s just a matter of recovery from here.”

Keeping all his focus on his grandmother and not bothering to glance at the stupid doctor, Sasha snorted “You said she was steady and healthy last time, fuckwad.”

“Aleksandr!” Mrs. Shvets said in a horrified voice, utterly shocked if her wide eyes and open mouth were anything to go by. “Where are your manners?”

What manners? Who the fuck needed manners at a time like this? And anyways, this doctor sure as hell didn’t deserve any. “Gone. So. Fucking. Gone.”

Now what he really wanted to have said was so far up the void of his ass but Mrs. Shvets definitely wouldn’t take to that kindly. No, not at all.

He hated how the doctor gave him a look of understanding as though he understood _anything_ of what Sasha was feeling and going through right now. “It’s rough, I understand.” Sasha opened his mouth to tell the bastard to go fuck himself but didn’t get the chance as the doctor turned his focus back to Nico’s mom. “I’ll be by again later to check how she’s doing.”

Sasha waited because he knew what was coming. He waited, not even caring or apprehensive about what he knew was on the schedule. The minute the doctor stepped out, Mrs. Shvets forced Sasha’s chin up to look at her, her eyes stern and hard though underneath it all, concern softened them. “You do not speak to people, especially an adult, especially a doctor who has been nothing but kind to you, that way. Understood?”

“Sure,” he snorted, shoving her hand off and resuming his position of staring intently at his grandmother. He’d left her this morning and she’d been great. She’d said that her shoulder hurt a bit but that was all he remembered her complaining about. And even if something else did hurt and she just avoided complaining about it, Sasha was very good at keeping an eye on her, even before her heart attack. He would’ve noticed.

He would’ve, right?

Yeah, yeah, of course he would’ve. Why was he doubting himself now of all times when baba needed him strong as can be? Baba and Nico needed him and Sasha didn’t have the time nor mental capacity to be doubting himself.

All he had to do was remained focused.

Mrs. Shvets sighed and sat down in the chair beside him that she’d dragged in earlier. “Sasha, I know things aren’t easy right now but that doesn’t mean we turn on each other.”

Was that what he’d done? Turned on her? Hadn’t she turned on him by assuming she could understand his feelings? Sasha didn’t turn on people; he was loyal to a fault like a bitch who didn’t understand that when one was kicked, coming back wasn’t the right option. He’d been kicked many times in his life and the only person he couldn’t find it in his heart to forgive was Aleksandra.

That was it.

He’d forgiven Viktor.

He’d forgiven Monique.

He’d even damn forgiven Ismael once.

And, of course, Sasha had forgiven Nico for picking a stupid boy over him.

A boy who Sasha just wished would leave them alone.

_“Nicolas, can you sit here for a sec?” Ismael asked softly, patting the seat Sasha had vacated with his pacing needs. He glanced around for a moment and for some reason, Sasha thought he saw fear in his eyes. But who was there to be fearful of? The only person Ismael might be checking for was his own mother and he couldn’t possibly be afraid of her, could he? “Come here, baby,” he said, even softer than before. “Lemme see you.”_

_Let him see him._

_How fucking idiotic was this bitch?_

_Nico was actually stupid enough to glance at his ex and Sasha couldn’t believe the wanting he caught in those blues of his. If Ismael was idiotic, Nic was just plain ass stupid. But thankfully, he wasn’t stupid enough to actually go to the dumbass sitting there. Instead, he settled for pressing his face back into Sasha’s chest, clutching his waist tight with arms that had strength Sasha didn’t even remember them ever having. But then, Sasha’s body was like goopy jelly right now so maybe it just made Nico seem like he was stronger than he was._

_“Baby, don’t be like that,” Ismael whispered, still glancing around like a panicked animal. “C’mere.”_

_“Can you seriously shut the fuck up?” Sasha snapped, all and any patience he’d ever had in his life immediately gone. “No one here wants to hear you.”_

_The flame reserved especially for Sasha flared in Ismael’s eyes. “It’s not your-”_

_“I will shove a goddamn pencil through your neck, you piece of shit,” Sasha hissed, only half joking and wishing this bitch would shut up._

_Only half._

_He couldn’t take this ridiculous shit anymore._

_“Sasha,” Nico said in a horrified whisper, his head flying up in very very undisguised shock. Sasha hated that. He hated how Ismael was Ismael and that meant something to Nicolas._

_Fucking. Hated. It._

_There was no way Sasha was going to even consider apologizing. No way, no how. He’d had it up to here with Ismael, above that even with Ismael and Nic because he was doing everything to be the perfect friend and he felt a little underappreciated._

_And maybe…just a bit forgotten. Nico should be looking at him with a reflection of Sasha’s panic in his eyes. Scared with him for baba. Angry with him at the world and how unfair it was to him. Frustrated that nothing ever seemed to go right._

_Instead he was wasting his time being horrified by a pencil threat._

_For Ismael._

“Sorry,” he murmured though honestly, Sasha wasn’t sure that he was feeling his apology. Sasha wasn’t even sure he was feeling anything. The only thing that was real right now, the only thing that was solid and keeping him in touch with reality, was the steady beat.

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Steadily.

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

It was the only thing real right now. And it was the only thing that mattered.

That steady beating of her heart.

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Steadily.

 

 

“Sasha,” called someone, their voice barely a whisper. “Sasha, bae, you there?”

Bae. He was only bae to one person.

Cracking his crusty eyes open, Sasha blinked at Nico who was crouching in front of him, giving him a soft smile. Sasha hadn’t even known that he’d fallen asleep or when Mrs. Shvets had left.

The only thing he knew was the beat beating steadily.

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

“Bet your butt hurts, huh?” Nico laughed though Sasha knew it was fake. It was fake just like the face of makeup he wore, eyeliner and shadow making his eyes seem brighter than they were, gloss making his lips what they weren’t, and foundation making his skin flawless in a way that it wasn’t.

For some reason, Sasha suddenly hated that face of makeup. It was a lie like so many other things in Sasha’s life. “You spoke to him, didn’t you?”

Nico’s eyes went wide before shamed shuttered down on his face. Not meeting Sasha’s eyes, Nico bit at his lip and replied softly “It was only a minute.”

“A minute long of him swearing it wasn’t him, huh?” The sad part was that Nic would believe every word of the lie. He didn’t know if it was because he was just that damn gullible, stupid, or in love. It didn’t matter which reason it was because none of them were even satisfactory for Sasha. “And you of course believe him because, you know, it wasn’t his handwriting or anything.”

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

“I wasn’t paying attention to the handwriting. He said it was Casey-”

“And your idiotic ass believes him.” Silence was his answer and it only made Sasha angrier. Dropping his heavy head into his hands, Sasha laughed, almost hysterically. “Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough.”

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Nicolas rested his head on Sasha’s knee, the weight hotter than anything. It was like a reminder of what was stuck between them, stopping them from being what they were. “How’s baba.”

Alive. Probably not actually doing as good as everyone kept saying she was. But she was alive and Sasha knew he had to be thankful for that much. “She’s okay. The ambulance got her here just in time and they did a bypass.”

“She’s not too old for that?”

Sasha shook his head. He’d also been concerned but the doctor had assured both him and Mrs. Shvets that she’d handled it well and that she was on the path to a positive mend. “They said she’s looking good.”

“Bestie, they said that last time.”

Yeah, yeah they had. “Your mom said we just have to be positive. Stay positive.”

Arms engulfed him and pressed Sasha into a small hard chest. “It’s gonna be okay, love, you’ll see.”

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Steadily. 

 

* * *

 

 

Nico froze as he reached his apartment floor.

_“It wasn’t his handwriting or anything.”_

Not to mention…the timing was one hell of a thing. Nico tells him they’re taking a break and then that happens?

“Hey, baby,” Ismael said with this huge smile. “Been waiting for you.”

He just didn’t know what to do anymore.

Dragging himself over to his door even though he really didn’t want to be around Ismael right now, Nico pulled out his key and snorted “I don’t know why when I told you-” A squeak erupted from him as strong arms trapped him in an embrace, causing him to drop his key, before an even stronger hand used his hair to pull his head back, leading to him powerful eager lips.

Suddenly, he hated that he liked big strong guys.

“Stop!” Nico snapped, wrenching his mouth from a much stronger one while trying to get himself out of Ismael’s arms. “Dammit, let go, Ismael.” He couldn’t even budge an inch from how hard Ismael was holding him. It was like all the air had been smashed out of his lungs too. “Ismael.”

“You need to calm the fuck down,” Ismael snorted, his voice light like everything was just a game to him. Wasn’t it? Nico was this craving that Ismael wanted to try out; a dirty desire on the side.

He was no one’s dirty desire.

Stomping on Ismael’s foot did him nothing and he had no room to use his elbows. Nico was ready to admit defeat and use the only tactic he knew that worked. It’d never failed. He hated that it was the only thing that ever worked for him, like he was some pathetic little thing that only had seduction on his side.

He hated it so much.

Blinking up at his ex with wide eyes and parting his mouth in the way he knew gave Ismael fantasies that made Nicolas uncomfortable, he whined “Please let go. It hurts.” Ismael blinked down at him, eyes narrowed in a way Nico didn’t at all like. The whine never failed. The eyes, the mouth. Never. And yet Ismael was just staring and not letting go. Staring in a way that made Nico incredibly nervous. “Please.”

Nico waited.

And waited.

Waited some more to no avail.

Why wouldn’t he let go?

“Ismael,” Nico repeated, trashing the whine in the bin because now he was just pissed as hell.

“When do your parents get back?”

What?

“That’s not your business because we’re not a thing anymore,” Nico snapped, frustrated beyond any sort of reason. He wanted Sasha. Sasha would do something. He wished he’d stayed in the hospital, despite the discomfort between them because angry Sasha would always be safer than angry Ismael. “Let. Go.”

Pounding echoed in his ears, his panicked heart getting louder by the second. Why wouldn’t he let go? What did he want? Nico struggled against the hard body, trying anyway he could to just get some wiggle room. When none of that worked, he decided on a tactic he’d seen on tv.

Nicolas clamped his teeth down on Ismael’s arm, not caring about how bad he might hurt him or just how unsanitary this could be.

“Fuck!” Ismael hissed, his arms loosening enough for Nico to free himself but the joy hardly lasted even a moment. Not even sparing a glance at the bite marks, Ismael grabbed Nico’s wrist, twisting his arm back, before slamming him face first into the wall beside the door. Safety was so close and yet it was like it was mocking him. Leaning in close and pressing a kiss that felt like the most disgusting thing in the world against Nico’s ear, Ismael whispered “I can bite too, you know.” He ran his tongue up the shell of Nicolas’ ear. “What do you think?”

What did he think? He thought that the very hard thing pressed against his lower back freaked him the hell out because this should not be exciting to a normal person. “I think you’re nuts. I told you we’re done meaning-”

“People do stupid things when they’re upset,” Ismael murmured, pressing another kiss, “I know you didn’t mean it.” His thumb pressed roughly into Nico’s wrist, making him wince in pain. “You didn’t mean it, right?”

Tears sprang up from the pain, a cry escaping from his lips as Ismael pushed into his wrist even harder. He wanted Sasha. He wanted Sasha now and badly and wished he’d never left the hospital, wished they’d never fought, wished he’d never even seen Ismael. But there was no Sasha here and there wouldn’t be anytime soon.

Nicolas had to save himself this time.

“Nicolas, baby, you didn’t mean it.” Ismael pushed his body harder against Nico which smashed him even harder into the wall while the pressure on his wrist only got worse. “Tell me.”

He’d meant it.

But he wanted the hurt to stop.

“I didn’t mean it,” he whispered, shutting his eyes tight, pressing out his silent tears. “I didn’t mean it.”

A soft kiss met his cheek as the pain eased off, making Nicolas let out a shuttering breath. “I know, baby. I forgive you.”

Forgive him.

Like he’d been the one in the wrong.


	31. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> I'm dizzy af omg  
> Sorry I'm late!
> 
> Enjoy!

“If you have another heart attack,” Sasha whispered to his sleeping grandmother who looked more…on the verge of death than sleeping. She was breathing and her heartbeat sounded strong but something was off to him. His eyes saw his grandmother, here with him, asleep like all was right in the world. His mind, on the other hand, felt something entirely different.

Everything just felt off.

Wrong.

“I’ll totally punch you for it, baba. Totally, okay?” Tears welled in his eyes as Sasha felt like the room was closing in on him. There was no air anywhere. “I’ll make sure it bruises too j-just to teach you a lesson.” Rubbing her soft wrinkly hand that looked frailer than ever, he added “You’re gonna get better, okay? The doctor said so. You said so last time, remember? You’re gonna get better and we’re gonna go walk in Central Park like we used to and maybe even take the bus to the edge of Manhattan to see the river. We’re gonna do those things, baba, you p-promised.”

There was a heavy knock at the door but Sasha ignored it. The door to baba’s room was open anyways; if the person wanted to come in, then they should just come the fuck in. “Is it okay that I come in?”

Even his shock at hearing that accented annoying voice wasn’t enough to make Sasha turn his head. He continued rubbing his grandmother’s hand softly, continued watching her closely.

Continued feeling like he was suffocating by the second.

“Guess I’ll take that as a yes,” Viktor said softly, his shoes clipping on the floor. Sasha knew that the clipping was in fact a lot quieter than it sounded, but when in a room filled with nothing but despair, the clipping was louder than an explosion.

_Clip_

_Clip_

_Clip_

As steady as her heartbeat.

It should’ve annoyed him when a strong hand brought itself down on his shoulder but in truth, it was merely grounding. He _appreciated_ the ability to feel a little connected with the world when he felt like he was stuck in limbo with nothing but the vacuum taking his air. Viktor gave Sasha’s shoulder a slight squeeze and crouched down, “Hey.”

“Hi.”

He nodded then, though Sasha had no idea what the hell there was to nod about. “You doing okay?”

Sasha snorted. It wasn’t his health that needed checking on. “I’m fine.” He kept his gaze on the rise and fall of baba’s chest. “I’m fine.”

Viktor nodded again, squeezing Sasha’s shoulder once more. Getting to his feet, he dragged over the other chair and took a seat, not another word coming from his mouth as though it was totally normal for him to just show up here. As if he didn’t live in an entirely different country or anything. But he didn’t share and Sasha was too out of it to ask, so they both let it go and simply sat in each other’s company.

Sasha didn’t even know he’d fallen asleep until his eyes blinked open, his brain trying to catch up with his surroundings and situation. Night must’ve fallen, the room darker than earlier with only a slight glow of a lamp illuminating the room. Sasha lifted his head from the edge of baba’s bed, his hand still holding her still one and her heartbeat still beating steadily, and blinked tiredly at Viktor who also seemed to have fallen asleep.

He looked so normal that it was weird. Though his neck had to be hurting from his current position. A snore escaped his lips and despite himself, Sasha laughed. He couldn’t help it. Viktor snored. Maybe to the world something so simple wasn’t funny but to Sasha who’d never known anything of this man, it was hilarious. If Nic was here, they’d laugh and joke about snoring being genetic because over their millions of sleepovers, Sasha had been whacked with plenty of pillows for snoring.

“Hola.”

Speak of the gorgeous devil.

“Dude, he snores,” Sasha laughed, surprised at his good mood from such a simple thing. He didn’t understand it but he didn’t question it either. “Louder than me even.”

Nico walked over and looped his arms around Sasha’s neck from behind, putting them cheek to cheek. “He’s gonna wake up with one heck of a crick in his neck. When he’d show up?”

“Depending on how long I was sleeping, some hours ago.” He turned his head to he could glance at Nico who was…off. Sasha wasn’t sure why but he knew it. He could feel it. Just like he felt something with baba wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?”

“Who said anything is wrong?”

His tone sounded right but…his body wasn’t. Nico wasn’t the stiff type. He always looked Sasha in the eyes unless he was lying.

Which meant he was very obviously lying.

“Nic-”

“Really, Sasha, I’m fine. We need to focus on baba, not me.” He pressed a kiss to Sasha’s temple, “We just need to get her up and moving again, you’ll see.”

He was specifically diverting the topic; Sasha wasn’t stupid. But he let it slide for now, figuring that attacking the subject would be better when Nico wasn’t expecting it. “Yeah, we just have to get her fully awake first. Obviously.” His eyes flicked back over to Viktor who was shifting in his seat, eyelids fluttering. “You think he came for me?”

Sliding down to the floor and resting his head against Sasha’s leg, Nico replied “Well, he didn’t come for me, that’s for sure.” Scratching his mess of a hair that he didn’t even bother to fix, Nico added “I think it’s nice of him to show up to make sure you’re okay.”

Grabbing Nico’s wrist making him squeak in surprise, Sasha stared at the odd bruise adorning it. “What the hell is this from?” It was a deep purple, fresh and angry. Nic tried to yank his wrist out of Sasha’s hand but it was all for show because they both knew that Nicolas could never pull himself out of his grasp. “Nic, what the hell is this?”

Frustration oozed from his voice as he snapped “Why does everyone think they can just grab me how they like? I’m not a fucking doll in front of you people!”

It was like he’d been burned, dropping his bestie’s hand from the heat. “I-”

The frustration became angry tears which Nico wiped harshly before shoving himself between Sasha’s legs and hugging him tight, pressing his face into his chest. Sasha was pretty sure he smelled because he hadn’t showered, hadn’t really left this chair much, but Nico didn’t seem to care. Wrapping his arms softly around Nico’s shoulders, Sasha pressed a kiss to his head and kept his forehead resting atop that messy mop of hair. “Hey, whatever it is, I’m here, you know that.” Nic nodded but didn’t offer up anything. “I love you, bestie, and I’ll fuck up anyone for you. I’ll put them in a goddamn grave for you.”

Nico’s frame shuddered as he breathed in deep, Sasha feeling his eyes fluttering against him. He kissed Sasha’s chest before resting his head against him, not hiding, but simply there for comfort. “I’m okay. Thank you. I just…needed a minute. I love you too.” He glanced up at Sasha, his sharp chin digging into his chest as Nico gave him a cheeky smile. “You know…we’d be great couple.”

Sasha laughed, hiding his face in his hands, He’d never been embarrassed about anything between them before – hell, they’d seen each other naked a million times before – but for some reason, his face was flaming. “Would we?”

“Heck yeah, bae. You sure you’re not even the tiniest bit gay? That’s all I need. I can totally work with one percent. Unless your black girl thing extends to black dudes too. Then I have no chance.”

Choking on his laugh, Sasha uncovered his face and looked down at his bestie just smiling up at him. The pain was still in his eyes, just behind the cheeriness, and Sasha knew there was something serious going on. He’d just have to try digging deeper later. “If I were even the tiniest tiniest bit gay, say…even just .0000001 percent, I’d pick you over any black guy any day. Bros before hos, baby.”

Nico laughed, dragging himself up to wrap his arms around Sasha’s neck, squeezing him tight. “If you watch enough gay porn, you’ll totally play for my field.”

“Nic, bae, I’ve never even seen straight porn. Hell, you’ve never even seen gay porn and those tiny ads on the internet do not count. Everyone has seen those.”

“We can experiment together.”

A throat cleared and they glanced over to Viktor who was looking extremely uncomfortable. He must’ve been listening for a while. “I don’t think these are conversations I want to be a part of.”

Sliding back down onto the floor but staying pressed against Sasha, Nico laughed “Well, you weren’t. Technically, you’re intruding. You should’ve stayed in snore-land. Sasha gets that from you, by the way.”

Viktor seemed amused but there was still that uncomfortable twitch to his mouth. They both knew that he wasn’t comfortable with Nico’s sexuality but it was none of his stupid ass business anyways. “I don’t know if snoring is genetic but I apologize.”

“Thank you. I’ve spent many sleepless nights.”

 “No you haven’t,” Sasha muttered, whacking Nico atop his stupid head. “You sleep like the freaking dead. I have to push you off the bed just to get you awake.”

“Aye, Sasha, how may times have I told you to keep your hands to yourself?”

He nearly trampled Nico to death from how fast he moved to stand over his grandmother who was blinking up at him. Her blinks were a little too slow for him but they were blinks and she was speaking even if it was a bit labored. That was something and all that mattered right now. Clutching her hand tight but not too tight because he was afraid he’d injure such a frail appendage, Sasha kissed her sweaty forehead and whispered “I’ve missed your ugly gravely voice, old lady.”

She chuckled but it was tired and he hated it. It scared him. “Nico, love, slap him for me.”

“My pleasure,” Nic laughed, coming up beside Sasha and slapping the back of his head so hard that it felt like his brain just rattled in place. “There you go, baba.” Voice taking on a much softer tone, he leaned in and asked “How are you feeling? Okay?”

“I’m fine,” baba muttered, seemingly annoyed as she pursed her lips. “You people make too much out of something small.”

Something small.

This woman was out of her fucking mind.

“Small?” Sasha snapped, letting go of her hand because he knew that he’d squeeze the life out of it if he kept it in his grasp. “Baba, you had a heart attack. Again. Mrs. Shvets climbed through out _fire escape_ to be able to get to you! Don’t make it like it’s nothing!”

“Sasha,” Viktor began, getting to his feet and coming to stand beside him. “I’m sure all she means is that she doesn’t want you to worry.” He gave a look to baba and it bothered him how they shared an understanding glance like he was this little child who needed the parents to calm a tantrum. Parents who’d never gotten along. “That’s all.”

“What the hell would you know?” Sasha hissed, turning on the man who was his father. Only in birth. It didn’t matter how bad he wanted a dad in his life, this man would never be able to fill it. No matter what he did, Sasha would never be able to attach him to his title. It’d just been too long of an absence for them. Too long and empty for Sasha to be able to add him into the picture. “You don’t know us. Just because you’ve suddenly shown up thinking you’ve swooped in to save my day and be there, doesn’t change a thing. Your wife still hates me and you don’t like my bestie. We may be family, Viktor, but that doesn’t mean a thing to me.”

A steal façade covered what might’ve been Viktor’s true feelings and it was one of many reasons Sasha disliked this man. He didn’t hate him like before now that he had a face to the title but he definitely didn’t like him either. There were two things he hated in this world after Aleksandra and that was homophobes and liars. People who hid their feelings were no better than a liar in his eyes. “I think you should find out where your manners went.”

“I think you should mind your own damn business.”

“Whether you like it or not,” Viktor said, the hint of a hiss just barely underneath his polite manner, “you are my business. I can’t fix what Aleksandra fucked up but I can try to start something new for us. But I can’t do that without your help because relationships go both ways, Sasha.”

“Am…I interrupting?”

Sasha spun around, more pissed than ever because Monique was the last person he wanted to see today. Well, okay, the third to last because the first would be Aleksandra any fucking day of the week – not like she’d ever show anyways – and the second would be Ismael. “Yes. Goodbye.”

Monique seemed taken aback, her eyes wide and the flowers clutched to her chest seemingly wilting with her mood if they could. “Sasha-”

“How about we all talk outside?” Nico cut in before things got too ugly, looping his arm through Sasha’s. “We don’t want to bother baba.”

His jaw clenched tight because he sure as hell didn’t want to talk but he nodded to appease Nic. He didn’t want him anymore upset than he already seemingly was. “Fine. After you.”


	32. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [sambamart](http://www.sambamart.tumblr.com)
> 
> Uh so news. This story and Emilio's will be going back to every other week for the foreseeable future
> 
> WTF SAM
> 
> Yeah, I know, I'm sorry but I start posting the last story in Joseph's trilogy tomorrow and to be able to reasonably handle three stories at once, it has to be done. By the end of summer at the latest (northern hemisphere lol) I want to have all three of these stories done. Then we'll be moving on to either Skov or Swan, I haven't decided yet, and an AU
> 
> Enjoy and sorry ^.^

Sasha made sure to speak before the words even got out of Monique’s mouth. If he was going to do this, he had to do it now before hearing what she was going to say caused him to keep his thoughts in from whatever guilt might compile. “I’m sorry but we’re done.”

Her jaw dropped, the words totally not what she’d been expecting. “You’re not serious.”

“Oh, I’m serious,” Sasha snorted, keeping Nico’s arm looped tight with his as they stood there, a few feet away from baba’s room. If he was Nico’s grounding force, Nico was his. Sasha could spend eternity lost in his head, unable to find his way back down to reality, but all he needed was a hug, holding Nico’s hand, or even just hearing his voice to help him back. Sasha had been struck one too many times lately by life and having his bestie by his side was one of the very few things keeping him on his feet. “I just feel like it’s the best course of action for us.”

Monique clamped her mouth shut with an audible _click!_ and glared at him, the hurt oozing from her beautiful round eyes. He felt bad, he really did, but he knew it was for the best. She wasn’t what he needed and he could hardly be good for her if he was feeling like something was missing between them. “I came to check on your grandma and that’s the thanks I get?”

Annoyance flared, wanting to burst into more than that from the anger that’d already been stewing from earlier. “If you came to check on my grandma from the goodness of your heart, then you shouldn’t be expecting me to reward you for it.” The fire in Monique’s eyes blazed hotter. She was pissed but he could tell that she was hurting too. It made him feel like an ass but he knew this had to happen. “I’m sorry, I really mean it, but this just isn’t going to work for us.”

She crossed her arms, fierce as ever even in her pain. Her flowers didn’t seem to appreciate the gesture as they shivered in their distress. “It was working fine before.”

“Yeah, before you wanted to play off blatant hate as a joke.” Nico clutched his arm tighter. “Look, I’m an ass for doing it this way but I think it’s best if we go our separate ways.”

“If you want,” Nico laughed but for some reason, it sounded wrong, “you can have Ismael back. I don’t want him anymore. He’s _all_ yours.”

Sasha could swear to God that he’d totally give his bestie a freaking blowjob as a thank you right now. He’d do it. So fucking do it. He didn’t know what had finally given Nic the push to realize what trash his ex was but Sasha didn’t care. All that mattered was that he finally got it.

 _Finally_.

It bothered him that Monique just rolled her eyes like it was one big joke. “C’mon, I doubt he actually did that prank at school. He loves you way too much. I’ve seen it. He’s all over you.”

Well, if she was looking for a reason to piss Sasha off, she’d found it, that was for sure. The last thing he wanted was for someone to make Nico rethink his decision. To make him reconsider Ismael’s ‘love.’ He wasn’t going to disregard that Ismael did in fact like Nico, because he did, Sasha knew that, but what they had wasn’t love. Or at least, it sure as fuck wasn’t healthy in his eyes.

From since they were kids, Sasha knew this maneuver. Nico would tuck his face into Sasha’s arm, attempting to hide when he was scared. But scared of what in this moment? “Yeah, well…I’d prefer he wasn’t. He should just leave me alone.”

“I think you guys just need to talk-”

“No,” Sasha cut in, that one word sharper than anything he’d ever said in his life. “They don’t need to anything. Nico says no, then no. Don’t make him reconsider when you don’t even know anything about how they are.”

The poor flowers were being practically strangled in her arms. Sasha was pretty sure she was imagining his head being wrung right about then. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so negative about everything. I’ve known Ismael since elementary and I know he’s a great guy. If you weren’t a _jerk,_ maybe you’d consider the fact that he’s having trouble with his sexuality or that his family would probably throw him out for it.”

Sasha would never want anyone to suffer but he hated Ismael too much to even care. “A lot of people go through hell, it doesn’t mean they get to be assholes. There’s no free pass.”

Monique rolled her eyes as strode forward, shoving the flowers at him. “I hope she gets better,” she said, her voice wavering on ‘I’ll fuck you up,’ “and if you want Nicolas that bad, then just go out with him and stop messing with everyone else.”

They both stared at her in confusion, heads tilted to the side, as she strode down the hall with even her walk fierce as hell. “Am I messing with people?” Sasha asked, dumbfounded because she’d in fact been his first girlfriend. Messing with people how? Who were these people?

“I thought you told me you’re not gay,” Nico murmured, amusement lightening their dampened moods. “Bae, stop lying to me. If you want me to suck it, I’ll suck it.” Sasha laughed, covering his red face with his available hand. “Hey, I will. We’d be a freaking power couple.”

“You think so?” Sasha snorted as he dragged them back to baba’s room, strolling their way in with their arms still intertwined. “Baba, Nic says me and him should go out. What do you think?”

“Eh, it’d never last,” she laughed before breaking into a cough. Seeing her awake and feeling humorous made him feel worlds better. She seemed more baba-ish this way. He pointedly ignored Viktor sitting in the corner. Sasha didn’t need to look at him to know that there’d be discomfort in his eyes. Maybe even disgust depending if he could hide his emotions today. “You stay best friends until you’re involved and then things get ugly.”

“Aw, baba, no,” Nico giggled, sitting on the edge of her bed and leaning forward to kiss her forehead. “We’d be thee epic power couple. I’m telling you. How you feeling? Honest answer or Sasha will beat you up.”

“Yes, yes, I will,” Sasha assured, coming to stand beside Nico with the abused flowers still in hand. “Listen up, old lady-”

“Don’t you ‘listen up’ me,” baba warned but there was a light to her eyes that showed she was enjoying this commanding Sasha. “I am old. My word first.”

“Nah, nah, listen up. From now on, once we get home, there’s going to be extreme changes.”

“Ooh, extreme,” Nico whispered making Sasha slap his arm. His bestie squeaked but laughed as he punched Sasha in return. “Extreeeme.” Turning to baba, he said “Hey, baba, those flowers are from Monique, Sasha’s _ex._ ”

Always telling everyone’s business this boy. Holding out the flowers which she accepted, Sasha snorted “Yeah, well, he has an ex too now. Thank God.”

A shadow flitted across Nico’s face but it was gone as quickly as it came. It’d happened so fast that Sasha wasn’t even sure that he’d actually seen it. “Yessir. I’m ready for new horizons.”

Now those were words Sasha liked to hear.

By evening, Mrs. Shvets had come and taken Nico home. By evening, baba had once more fallen asleep, looking more restful than she had.

By evening, Sasha was stuck sitting with Viktor in the cafeteria.

“I want to have a serious conversation with you,” Viktor began, his words careful in their treading. Sasha immediately knew that he wasn’t going to like what he was going to hear. “But I want you to be mature about it. Can you do that?”

Even if he hadn’t been planning on it, Sasha was now because apparently this man thought that he couldn’t manage it. “Duh,” he snorted after swallowing his very crunchy fry. It was one of their best foods here. “Let’s hear it.”

Viktor nodded slowly before sipping from the straw sitting in his lemonade. “I want to put into motion another request for custody.”

The fry froze on the way to Sasha’s mouth before his brain processed the words. Dropping the fry onto his plate, he snapped “Are you fucking kidding me?”

His face tightened, a grimace growing and a flash of irritation running through his eyes. “I thought you were going to be mature about this?”

Clenching his cup tight, Sasha took a deep breath and all but hissed “Sorry, let’s try again. Are. You. Kidding. Me.”

Still not looking particularly pleased, Viktor replied “No. She’s in no condition-”

“She just had a heart attack! Of course she’s currently in no condition!” The cafeteria was mainly empty this time of day but the few people who were here stopped their conversations to look in on his. Sasha gave each and everyone of them an ugly glare before making sure that Viktor got the ugliest of them all. “Fuck. You.”

Viktor’s jaw was grinding down on itself so hard, that Sasha just wished it’d open so he could really truly see what this man’s anger was like. “Sasha, I understand it’s not something easy for you or even something that you want, but she is sick and cannot take care of you. You spend more time caring for her than her you. She’s your guardian, not your patient.”

What irked Sasha the most was that nothing Viktor just said was wrong. The man was learning more and more about Sasha and yet Sasha still couldn’t get a handle on him at all. “She just needs some help right now, that’s all. She’s strong, she’ll be _fine._ ”

“Sasha,” Viktor said softly, his face easing into something far more approachable than a second ago. “I know this isn’t easy. I know. But her health is getting worse and you, as a teenage boy, can’t take care of her alone.”

He refused to acknowledge how true those words were. “Well, then we can get her a nurse,” he practically plead. The last thing he wanted was to have to beg this man that was his father but it was the only tactic Sasha had left. He needed his grandmother. He needed Nico and New York and his house. This was home and he knew he’d never be able to handle being anywhere else. “Just…she just needs more time to get on her feet, that’s all. Please.”

Viktor seemed pained, upset even, his mouth turning to a sad frown and his eyes turning to gooey softness. Sasha couldn’t believe it but he found comfort in those eyes. He wanted to melt into them even. “Tell you what, we’ll give it a shot, okay?” Sasha nodded hurriedly and thanked God that Viktor wasn’t the type to play sick jokes and say ‘ _sike!_ ’ “I’ll get her a good nurse that’ll come check on her everyday and stay with her when you’re out.” Sasha felt like a bobblehead from his constant nodding. “And we’ll go from there. How’s that?”

“Perfect,” Sasha whispered, his eyes wide in awe as he stared up at this man. He’d listened. He’d actually listened to him. “Thank you.”

A sad smile came on Viktor’s face. “You’re welcome. I just wish you didn’t see me as such a bad guy.”

Shame filled his chest as he stared down at his plate. He’d painted Viktor the villain from day one, it was true, even though it’d been Sasha wanting to find him. It wasn’t that Viktor actually was a horrible person, because he wasn’t at all, it was just Sasha didn’t know how to handle everything. The dynamic of a father was odd to him and having this man insert himself into his life suddenly after such a long absence made it even harder to accept him. “I…it’s just…it’s really hard.”

Warmth enveloped his hand on the table, Viktor’s covering his own. “I know. I really do. But I’m just trying to make something for us, Sasha. That’s all I want. I want to know you, I want us to get along. And you’re not the sole problem because I know that sometimes, I’m not doing a much better job than you. It’s hard for me too. It’s…awkward. We’re being mashed together after so long and it’s going to take us a bit to hit our groove. I understand.”

He understood. Sasha had never figured that any of this was difficult for Viktor. All he’d thought was that he figured himself the savior swooping in to save poor fatherless Sasha. But hearing these words…they gave Sasha hope for them. For their relationship. He’d always wanted a real dad – Mr. Shvets was great but he wasn’t _Sasha’s._

And now he had Viktor. Viktor who was feeling that this was just as hard as Sasha was feeling that it was. Suddenly, just that small amount of understanding, the effort he put into letting Sasha know the truth, meant everything. It was like the olive branch Sasha hadn’t known he’d been looking for.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Viktor continued, “and I know that. I knew from day one that trying to insert myself into your life wasn’t going to be easy. I had to earn it and I’m sorry that I haven’t yet. I’m trying and, yeah, I know I’m not making it easy. I know. But all I want is for us to have the chance that Aleksandra stripped from the both of us. What do you think?”

Still staring down at his fries, Sasha murmured “I think…I think that I could give it an honest shot. I also know that I haven’t been easy but hearing you say that you actually get it…” he looked up at _his_ father, “it…it means a lot. More than you can even guess. I’ve always wanted to meet you, that hasn’t changed, and while we’ve met, I don’t think either of us are really understanding the other yet.”

“Well then I guess we should find a way to get on that track, right?” Sasha nodded, feeling better than he had in the past week. “Alright, then, let’s go back to baba before she chews our ears off for not being there when she wakes up, right?”

Sasha laughed and nodded, getting to his feet as he grabbed his plate. “Sounds like a plan.”

It’d been a plan. It’d been a plan back down the hall, up the elevator, and down the next hall.

It’d been a plan.

The problem was that when they got there, baba couldn’t chew their ears off no matter how much Sasha begged.

Because she was dead.


End file.
